Department for Transport

Railways: Wales

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what effect the plans set out in the Integrated Rail Plan published on 18 November 2021 will have on transport connectivity within Wales.

Andrew Stephenson: The Integrated Rail Plan confirms that HS2 will be built from Crewe to Manchester, enabling improved onward connectivity to Wales. Crewe Northern Connection would improve connections from North Wales to the HS2 network, potentially bringing many passengers within 2 hours 15 minutes of London. Work to progress options on completing the Midlands Rail Hub could also give passengers from South Wales easy access to the HS2 network at Birmingham Curzon Street.

Railways: Scotland

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the implementation of the Integrated Rail Plan for the North and Midlands, published on 18 November 2021, on transport connectivity within Scotland.

Andrew Stephenson: The core pipeline set out in the Integrated Rail Plan, which includes completing HS2 Phases One and 2a and completing HS2 Phase 2b from Crewe to Manchester, including the link to the West Coast Main Line, will help reduce journey times between England and Scotland. Birmingham and London to Glasgow and Edinburgh could be cut by between 40 and 50 minutes compared to today. In addition, the package of upgrades to the East Coast Main Line will separately improve journey times for services to Edinburgh from London King’s Cross. Journey times could be cut by 25 minutes compared to today depending on stopping patterns. The recent Union Connectivity Review also considered the reduction of rail journey times to Scotland.

Bus Services: Vacancies

Sam Tarry: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the impact on bus services caused by staff shortages; and what steps his Department is taking to address the impact of staff shortages in the bus services sector.

Trudy Harrison: My Department is working closely with the Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning and Transport (ADEPT) and the Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT) to gather information to gain an understanding of the current staffing levels and recruitment pipeline in the bus sector.The Government remains committed to maintaining high service levels for bus users to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 and has announced £226.5 million in Bus Recovery Funding to support this.Individual bus operators are required to ensure they have sufficient staff in order to run their scheduled services. To this end, we expect the bus sector to pursue all opportunities to encourage job seekers into the industry.

Buses: Driving

Sam Tarry: To the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to encourage more people to become bus drivers.

Trudy Harrison: DfT are monitoring bus driver shortage data through surveys to bus and coach operators, and to Local Transport Authorities. The purpose of this is to gather information about the extent of the shortages across the country, so that this can be monitored as the situation develops and, to see if there is more that DfT can do to ensure the supply of drivers is sufficient.Individual bus operators are required to ensure they have sufficient staff in order to run their scheduled services. To this end, we expect the bus sector to pursue all opportunities to encourage job seekers into the industry.

Buses: Driving

Sam Tarry: To the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the (a) scale and (b) potential impact of the shortage in bus drivers.

Trudy Harrison: My Department is working closely with the Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning and Transport (ADEPT) and the Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT) to gather information to gain an understanding of, and assess, the current staffing levels and recruitment pipeline in the bus sector. This will inform the Department about the extent of the shortages across the country.The Government is committed to maintaining high service levels for bus users to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 and has announced £226.5 million in Bus Recovery Funding to support this.

Buses: Accidents

Sam Tarry: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Government is taking to reduce injuries to passengers, staff and other road users caused by buses outside London.

Trudy Harrison: Our National Bus Strategy published in March 2021 made clear that the bus sector must strive for the highest safety standards, upheld by the Traffic Commissioners.The Strategy required all Local Transport Authorities (LTAs) to publish a local Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) by the end of October 2021. The Department was clear that BSIPs should include plans on how LTAs and local bus operators will work together to ensure that bus services are safe and perceived to be safe by all. This may include measures such as appropriate passenger safety training for bus drivers to deal with emergency situations on or off the bus, and encouraging bus operators to liaise with local police and other stakeholders to address safety concerns.

Bus Services: Coronavirus

Sam Tarry: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what level of reductions in bus services operators are able to introduce and still be eligible for covid-19 recovery funding for bus services.

Trudy Harrison: Operators receiving the Bus Recovery Grant (BRG) must agree a baseline for their pre-pandemic, scheduled commercial mileage with their Local Transport Authority. They must then run a minimum of 90% of their pre-pandemic scheduled commercial mileage receive funding. Operators receive more funding if they run more mileage, to encourage operators to run as close to 100% as possible.

Bus Services: Coronavirus

Sam Tarry: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the maximum increase in fares is that bus operators can introduce and still be eligible for covid-19 recovery funding for bus services.

Trudy Harrison: Operators receiving the Bus Recovery Grant (BRG) are permitted to increase the cost of fares in line with the Consumer Prices Index (CPI). CPI will be determined as per the most recent published figure by the Office for National Statistics at the point of the increase.

Transport: Coronavirus

Sam Tarry: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the implications for passengers of covid recovery funding for (a) bus services outside London and (b) light rail services outside London not being maintained beyond April 2022.

Trudy Harrison: The Government is committed to seeing the bus sector and light rail networks return to financial sustainability. However, we recognise the ongoing challenges faced by operators and Local Transport Authorities to maintain services and are currently working with both sectors to understand how these might impact services after Covid recovery funding ends and what further action might be needed.

Bus Services: Finance

Sam Tarry: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what auditing arrangements there are for bus service recovery funding for operators; what proportion of claims from operators are audited; and whether it has been necessary to take action to recover bus recovery funding claims as a result of that auditing.

Trudy Harrison: The Bus Recovery Grant scheme has been designed to comply with the grants principles as set out by Cabinet Office. The checking process for the grant, set out in the terms and conditions, is conducted across three separate levels: the baselining process at the start of the scheme; the monthly assurance checks against each period return from every operator; and 2 part review exercise which will provide additional assurance to the grant. The details of this review exercise are due to be communicated to operators within the scheme shortly.DfT conducts due diligence checks on all claims submitted as part of the scheme. Action will be taken to recover funding where this is deemed appropriate following this checking process. At the time of writing, no monies have been claimed back from operators for this grant. This is however an on-going process and is subject to change through the lifetime of the scheme, where the Department will take action to recover funds where it becomes necessary.

Transport: Coronavirus

Sam Tarry: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what projections for patronage on a month-by-month basis is covid-19 recovery funding based on for (a) bus services outside London and (b) light rail systems outside London.

Trudy Harrison: The level of funding available through the Bus Recovery Grant (BRG) and Light Rail and Tram Recovery Grant (LRTRG) has been based on operator revenue and patronage projections which have been reviewed by the Department. This data is commercially sensitive and includes forecasts from operators which are not in the public domain.

Bus Services: Disability

Damien Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with bus service operators regarding the wheelchair accessibility of fleet vehicles.

Trudy Harrison: Ministers engage regularly with bus industry representatives on a range of issues. Currently, 99% of local buses[1] comply with the Public Service Vehicles Accessibility Regulations 2000 (PSVAR), which require the provision of a wheelchair space and ramp or lift.[1] Source: Annual Bus Statistics 2019, referenced in the National Disability Strategy

Motor Vehicles: Registration

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment the DVLA has made of the accuracy of the V5C database.

Trudy Harrison: All vehicle keepers are legally responsible for ensuring that the information on the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA)’s vehicle record is accurate. This is important to ensure that vehicle keepers receive important information, for example reminders when their vehicle excise duty is due for renewal.The DVLA regularly assesses the traceability of vehicle keepers from the information held on its records. From the latest available information, the DVLA is confident it can trace a vehicle in 92.1 per cent of its records.

Motor Vehicles: Hydrogen

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department plans to offer incentives to support individuals and organisations to purchase hydrogen vehicles.

Trudy Harrison: The Government offers grants to offset the higher upfront cost of zero emission cars, vans, trucks, motorbikes and taxis and is also supporting the development of hydrogen vehicles, particularly larger vehicles like HGVs and buses.We will be expanding our Zero Emission Road Freight Trials programme to trial three zero emission HGV technologies at scale on UK roads, including hydrogen fuel cells. Furthermore, local areas will be able to apply for funding for both battery electric buses and hydrogen fuel cell buses depending on which technology is best suited to their local areas. Funding schemes include the £120m Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas Scheme – open to bids from local authorities – while at SR21 £355m of new funding was made available for zero emission buses.

Hydrogen

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he is taking steps to reform the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation to stimulate investment in hydrogen production.

Trudy Harrison: Further to a public consultation earlier this year, we have introduced legislation which would expand support under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) to renewable hydrogen used in fuel cell rail and non-road transports, and in maritime vessels. To further encourage investment in renewable hydrogen production, we also proposed in the consultation to reward renewable hydrogen more flexibly under the RTFO. A Government Response on proposals to improve flexibility will be published very soon.

Electric Vehicles: Charging Points

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of electric recharging stations across the road network.

Trudy Harrison: The Government will provide over £1.3 billion over the next four years to support the continued roll-out of chargepoints on motorways and major A roads, in homes and businesses and on-street.The Government is working with the operators of motorway service areas (MSAs) and major A road services to ensure that this charging provision is in place ahead of customer demand. The aim is to help support early adoption of electric vehicles and remove range anxiety concerns for drivers on long journey.By 2023, we aim to have at least six high powered, open access chargepoints at MSAs in England, with some larger sites having ten to twelve. By 2035, we expect the number to increase to around 6,000 high powered chargers across the network. To ensure the private sector can continue to expand the charging network at pace in the 2020s, the Government will invest £950 million through the Rapid Charging Fund to future-proof grid capacity along the Strategic Road Network to prepare for uptake of zero emission cars and vans ahead of need.Local authorities can already apply to the £20 million On-Street Residential Charging Scheme. Government also committed at Spending Review 2020 to a new Local EV Infrastructure Fund which will facilitate the rollout of larger-scale chargepoint infrastructure projects across England for local areas. Details of how local EV charging will be supported will be announced in due course and the fund is due to launch in Spring 2022.Alongside funding support, Government’s forthcoming electric vehicle Infrastructure Strategy will define our vision for the continued roll-out of a world-leading charging infrastructure network across the UK. The strategy will focus on how we will unlock the chargepoint rollout needed to enable the transition from early adoption to mass market uptake of electric vehicles. We will set out our next steps to address barriers to private investment, and level up charge point provision.

Bus Services

Sam Tarry: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the total size in kilometres of bus routes in England outside of London in (a) January 2020 and (b) October 2021.

Trudy Harrison: The Department does not hold data on the total size of bus routes in England outside London.

Railway Stations: Disability

Ed Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his Department's press release of 26 February 2021, what progress he has made in improving facilities for disabled passengers at each of the 124 stations awarded funding through the Access for All programme; and if he will estimate when the accessibility improvements will be completed for each station where the works have not been finished; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The Access for All programme has delivered step free accessible routes at more than 200 stations and smaller scale access improvements at more than 1500 stations. All Access for All projects are due to be completed by 2024.We have made progress in completing the 124 stations due to receive funding under the Mid-Tier programme, with works at 4 stations already completed and the remaining stations in various stages of development and design. Further details can be found at:https://www.networkrail.co.uk/communities/passengers/station-improvements/access-for-all-improving-accessibility-at-railway-stations-nationwide/

Department for Transport: Litigation Group

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what services the Government Legal Department’s Litigation Group has provided to his Department since 1 January 2021.

Chris Heaton-Harris: Since 1 January 2021, Litigation Group has continued to provide litigation services to the majority of government departments, including DfT, and executive agencies, as well as many non-departmental public bodies.The Group’s work encompasses litigation in public and private law as well as supporting public inquiries and acting in Inquests. This has involved, amongst other things, attending in a wide range of courts, including Coroners’ Courts, the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal, the Royal Courts of Justice and the Supreme Court. Our Employment and Commercial Groups similarly provide litigation services to the majority of government departments and have done so in the period in question.

Shipping: Carbon Emissions

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to formally include maritime trade unions formally in the Operation Zero declaration on shipping and offshore wind at COP26.

Robert Courts: We are delighted that 29 organisations from across the offshore wind supply chain have thus far signed up to Operation Zero to accelerate the decarbonisation of this important and growing sector. We welcome the participation of further industry organisations, including maritime trade unions, as the initiative moves forward.

Shipping and Wind Power: Carbon Emissions

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will list (a) government and (b) industry signatories to the Operation Zero declaration on (a) shipping and (b) offshore wind launched at COP26.

Robert Courts: We were proud to launch Operation Zero at COP26 to accelerate the decarbonisation of this important and growing sector. This is an industry-focused initiative with an initial cohort of members including 29 organisations from across the offshore wind supply chain and North Sea region. The list is available in full on gov.uk: COP26 declaration: Shipping and Offshore Wind – Operation Zero - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Shipping and Wind Power: Carbon Emissions

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Operation Zero declaration on shipping and offshore wind at COP26, what assessment he has made of suitable port locations for the infrastructure required for decarbonising the offshore wind maritime supply chain to 2025.

Robert Courts: We were proud to launch Operation Zero at COP26 to accelerate the decarbonisation of this important and growing sector. We are delighted to have four ports or port groups, collectively servicing nearly one third of North Sea windfarms, signed up to the initiative. This is alongside our Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition, which includes projects on shore power, and our planned consultation on the appropriate steps to support the uptake of shore power in the UK.

Shipping and Wind Power: Carbon Emissions

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the annual impact that the (a) Operation Zero declaration and (b) Clean Maritime Demonstration Programme will have on (a) demand for and (b) supply of seafarers to 2030.

Robert Courts: We were proud to launch Operation Zero at COP26 and the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition last March to accelerate the decarbonisation of this important and growing sector. These initiatives build on the vision set out in the Clean Maritime Plan and the Transport Decarbonisation Plan to address emissions from the maritime sector. Seafarers will play a vital role in the sector’s transition to zero emissions by 2050, including in offshore wind and in the operation of clean maritime technologies. The Department remains committed to the employment and training of seafarers and will be guided by the Maritime 2050 Strategy, the Clean Maritime Plan, and the Transport Decarbonisation Plan to ensure we meet the future demand for seafarers. The recent Seafarer Cadet Review looked at the future skills needs of cadets in light of changing technologies and decarbonisation. The review’s recommendations have now moved into implementation by the Cadet Training and Modernisation Programme.

Shipping and Wind Power: Carbon Emissions

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions his officials have had with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy regarding seafarer employment standards in the maritime supply chain of the offshore wind industry.

Robert Courts: Officials continuously work closely with officials in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to ensure consistency of application of employment rights to seafarers and to ensure international obligations are correctly transposed.Where UK has sovereignty to apply domestic employment rights under international law these discussions will include the application to seafarers working in the UK offshore sector wind sector.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Vaccine Manufacturing and Innovation Centre

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the timescales for the sale of the Vaccine Manufacturing Innovation Centre; and whether that matter is subject to the consideration of the National Security and Investment Bill.

George Freeman: The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Vaccination: Manufacturing Industries

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, where his strategy for vaccine manufacturing and innovation is set out.

George Freeman: The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, where the additional vaccine supply for the extension of the covid-19 booster programme to younger cohorts will come from.

George Freeman: The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Vaccine Manufacturing and Innovation Centre

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, on what date the decision was made to sell the Vaccine Manufacturing Innovation Centre; and for what reason that decision was made.

George Freeman: The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Working Hours: EU Law

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of amending the Working Time Regulations in response to the Court of Justice of the European Union ruling in the case of Federacion de Servicios de Comisiones Oberas v Deutsche Bank SAE (CJEU Case C-55/18); and if he will make a statement.

Paul Scully: It is important that employers comply with the Working Time Regulations in respect of working hours and daily and weekly rest, and that they are held to account if they don't. Workers can take a case to employment tribunal concerning insufficient rest, and the Health and Safety Executive directly enforces maximum working hours. The Government has also committed to bringing forward state enforcement of the rules in the Working Time Regulations on holiday pay for vulnerable workers, to ensure that workers get the paid time off they deserve.

Carbon Capture and Storage: Hydrogen

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of placing all credible hydrogen production projects under Track-1 of the Cluster Sequencing Process.

Greg Hands: The Cluster Sequencing process will bring forward the UK’s first full-chain carbon capture and storage proposals. The Track-1 decision has identified the HyNet and East Coast Cluster proposals as those with the potential to pioneer this technology in the UK, including through the deployment of CCS-enabled low carbon hydrogen capacity. Phase-2 of this process, which opened in November, focuses on individual projects and is open to submissions from any hydrogen production project based in the UK provided they can demonstrate they have a CO2 transport solution and access to a Track-1 or reserve cluster CO2 store and meet the other eligibility criteria.

Boilers: Hydrogen

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to launch a consultation on mandating hydrogen-ready boilers.

Greg Hands: In the Heat and Building Strategy, the Government committed to consulting on the case for enabling, or requiring, new gas boilers to be readily convertible to hydrogen (‘hydrogen-ready’) by 2026 to prepare homes for a potential hydrogen conversion.

Lithium: China

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will take steps to ensure that companies listed in the UK which are engaged in lithium mining in the UK do not fall under the control of the Government of the People's Republic of China.

Greg Hands: Mergers and takeovers are primarily commercial matters for the parties involved. The Government has powers under the Enterprise Act 2002 to intervene in transactions which raise national security concerns. The Government has recently strengthened those powers through the National Security and Investment Act 2021.

Wood-burning Stoves

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether domestic wood burning counts  towards either (a) low-carbon heat or (b) renewable energy targets.

Greg Hands: Sustainably sourced domestic wood burning does count towards our broader carbon reduction goals.

Hydrogen

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of placing all credible hydrogen production projects under Track-1 of the Cluster Sequencing Process.

Greg Hands: The Cluster Sequencing process will bring forward the UK’s first full-chain carbon capture and storage proposals. The Track-1 decision has identified the HyNet and East Coast Cluster proposals as those with the potential to pioneer this technology in the UK, including through the deployment of CCS-enabled low carbon hydrogen capacity. Phase-2 of this process, which opened in November, focuses on individual projects and is open to submissions from any hydrogen production project based in the UK provided they can demonstrate they have a CO2 transport solution and access to a Track-1 or reserve cluster CO2 store and meet the other eligibility criteria.

Hydrogen: Renewable Energy

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of (a) electrolyser farms and (b) hydrogen pumps in the UK.

Greg Hands: The UK Hydrogen Strategy sets out the Government’s approach to supporting low carbon electrolytic (green) hydrogen production alongside other production technologies. Support includes the £240 million Net Zero Hydrogen Fund and the Industrial Decarbonisation and Hydrogen Revenue Support scheme which will provide up to £100m of funding allocated in 2022 for electrolytic hydrogen projects, plus a further electrolytic allocation round in 2024. The Government’s £23 million Hydrogen for Transport Programme is growing the number of publicly accessible hydrogen refuelling stations across the UK by delivering new stations and upgrading some existing stations, as well as deploying hundreds of new hydrogen vehicles.

Boilers: Public Consultation

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has plans to launch a public consultation on the potential impacts of mandating hydrogen-ready boilers.

Greg Hands: In the Heat and Building Strategy, the Government committed to consulting shortly on the case for enabling, or requiring, new gas boilers to be readily convertible to hydrogen (‘hydrogen-ready’) by 2026, to prepare homes for a potential hydrogen conversion.

Heating: Hydrogen

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of conducting multiple hydrogen village trials by 2025 to better inform a policy decision on hydrogen for heating buildings by 2026.

Greg Hands: I refer the Hon. Member to answer I gave my Hon. Friend the Member for Rother Valley on 10th December 2021 to Question 86217.

Aquind: Tax Avoidance

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what due diligence his Department has carried out on the proposed Aquind Interconnector project and its owners, with particular reference to illicit finance and funds reported in the Pandora Papers; and whether his Department has made an assessment of whether any of those funds were used in political donations to Government ministers.

Greg Hands: Foreign involvement in critical national infrastructure undergoes the highest levels of scrutiny.This Government is committed to making the UK a hostile place for illicit finance and economic crime.

Unfair Practices

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the extent of the practice whereby companies commission work from sub-contractors and then liquidate that company in order to avoid paying for the work only for the directors to establish a new business under a different name; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Scully: Office holders appointed to administer a liquidation are required to investigate the conduct of directors and report about that conduct to the Insolvency Service within three months of the liquidation. This may lead to investigation and proceedings to disqualify or, in serious cases, prosecute directors for misconduct. Depending upon the evidence obtained, such misconduct can include where a director caused a company to incur a debt which they had no intention of the company repaying.

Electric Vehicles: Charging Points

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent discussions he has had with (a) the electric vehicles industry and (b) local authorities on provision for electric vehicle charging points for properties with no off-street parking provision.

Lee Rowley: The Government continues to work closely with vehicle manufactures on the transition to zero emission vehicles. Ministers regularly engage with industry, including vehicle manufacturers, energy companies and chargepoint operators as well as local authorities (LAs) regarding electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure. For example, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister hosted an event at the Global Investment Summit on 19 October which was attended by leading British and global companies involved in the UK’s electric vehicle revolution. The meeting was attended by my Rt. Hon. Friends the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the Secretary of State for Transport, and the Secretary of State for International Trade, and by my Hon. Friend the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury. The Secretary of State for Transport wrote to the chief executives of all UK LAs in February this year to update them on the funding available to them. My Hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under Secretary for Transport also wrote to the Chief Executives and Leaders of 20 councils that had a lower than average chargepoint per head of population to encourage them to engage with OZEV officials. Since this letter, officials have hosted several meetings with members of these councils, providing support and advice. Officials from the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV) have a programme of activities to engage and support LAs, to help mainstream local capability and leadership and ensure LAs are working to support chargepoint rollout in their areas.

Small Businesses: Electricity

Nicola Richards: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what support his Department is providing to small and medium sized businesses facing increased electricity costs in winter 2021-22.

Greg Hands: The Government recognises this is a worrying time for businesses facing pressures due to the significant increases in prices. Extensive engagement continues across government at both a ministerial and official level on this situation to understand, and to help mitigate the impacts of, high global energy prices. The Government’s priority is to ensure costs are managed and energy supplies maintained.

Iron and Steel: Manufacturing Industries

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to bring forward a green steel deal.

Lee Rowley: As my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State stated in his evidence to the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Select Committee on 20 July 2021, the Government is keen to have a more sustainable, long-term approach to the sector. The Department is continuing to work with the sector through the Steel Council, and additional regular dialogue, to understand the options to achieve decarbonisation.

Department of Health and Social Care

Travel: Coronavirus

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many day 2 PCR tests included on passenger locator forms have been completed to date.

Maggie Throup: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Travel: Coronavirus

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many travellers have included a day two covid-19 PCR test on a passenger locator form since the introduction of those forms; and of those, how many (a) positive, (b) negative and (c) inconclusive results have been returned.

Maggie Throup: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Surgical Mesh Implants: Bristol

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect on access to treatment of the decision by the specialist centre for mesh removal in Bristol to take only local referrals through the NHS and those from outside their area privately.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department of Health and Social Care: Written Questions

Owen Thompson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to respond to Question 78453 tabled on 19 November 2021 by the hon. Member for Midlothian.

Edward Argar: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department of Health and Social Care: Meetings

Owen Thompson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department’s Information Risk Management and Assurance Directorate take steps to internally distribute and publicise guidance on (a) minute taking during Ministerial meetings and (b) requirements for officials to be present during Ministerial meetings.

Edward Argar: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the NHS app will be updated to register when an immunosuppressed person has had a third primary covid-19 vaccination dose, rather than a booster.

Maggie Throup: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Health and Social Care Levy

Kirsten Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 26 November 2021 to Question 77467 on the Health and Social Care Levy, under what legislative provision is assessment of the financial impact of the Social Care Levy on (a) private and (b) voluntary sector employers in the social care sector in the UK a devolved matter.

Gillian Keegan: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Members: Correspondence

Mr John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to respond to correspondence from the hon. Member for Basildon and Billericay of (a) 20th September 2021, (b) 18 October and  (c) 18 December, on a constituency case, reference JB34262.

Edward Argar: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Travel: Coronavirus

Sir Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 24 November 2021 to Question 78343 on Travel: Coronavirus, what recent progress has been made on enabling 12 to 15 year olds to prove their double covid-19 vaccinated status for the purpose of travel overseas.

Maggie Throup: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he made of the number of housebound people in (a) Bath and (b) England who have yet to be offered their covid-19 booster vaccination.

Maggie Throup: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: Screening

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the average length of time required to upgrade covid-19 testing labs which do not have S gene target failure capabilities.

Maggie Throup: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Travel: Coronavirus

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of international travellers, taking into account any exemptions, have not had their day 2 covid-19 PCR test result registered by the end of day 4.

Maggie Throup: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Travel: Coronavirus

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of day two covid-19 PCR tests do not have results registered by the end of (a) day three and (b) day four in the latest period for which that data is available.

Maggie Throup: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Travel: Coronavirus

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the current average time is for registering the results of day 2 covid-19 PCR tests.

Maggie Throup: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Migraines: Health Services

Wayne David: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 9 November 2021 to Question 69076, what assessment he has made of the level of uptake of the RightCare Headache and Migraines Toolkit by local clinical commissioning groups; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Argar: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Brain: Tumours

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what funding the Government is making available for the treatment of brain tumours.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Peter Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department (a) has taken and (b) plans to take to provide internationally recognised proof of covid-19 vaccination for the 12 to 15 age group.

Maggie Throup: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Travel: Coronavirus

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) private and (b) NHS Test and Trace labs conducting day two travel tests are able to conduct S-gene target failure (SGTF) assay.

Maggie Throup: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an urgent statement on recent reports that the redevelopment of West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust hospitals at Watford, St Albans and Hemel Hempstead has been paused by the New Hospital Programme.

Edward Argar: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Duncan Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to prioritise those under 40 who were vaccinated for covid-19 as part of group 6 previously part of the booster roll out programme; when he expects 16-17 years old in group 6 to be (a) eligible and (b) prioritised for a booster, including chronic asthmatics; what assurances his Department plans to provide those groups; and if his Department will use the flu jab list as a basis for identifying those who need to be prioritised for covid-19 booster vaccinations.

Maggie Throup: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Travel: Coronavirus

Peter Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has taken to enable international travel for the 12 to 15 age category who are double vaccinated against covid-19.

Maggie Throup: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Vaccine Manufacturing and Innovation Centre

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on the sale of the Vaccine Manufacturing Innovation Centre.

Maggie Throup: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

General Practitioners: Ilford North

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what (a) financial and (b) other steps his Department is taking to support GP services to meet patient demand in Ilford North constituency.

Maria Caulfield: We have invested £520 million to improve access to and expand capacity in general practitioner services during the pandemic, in addition to £1.5 billion by 2024. This includes a £250 million Winter Access Fund, announced on 14 October in ‘Our plan for improving access for patients and supporting general practice’.North East London Clinical Commissioning Group’s Quality Improvement Programme is engaging directly with practices to manage demand and access to primary care and assist in the provision of service for patients with long term conditions.

Health Services: Older People

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to ensure that older people are able to access health checks on request.

Maria Caulfield: Practices must ensure that each of its registered patients is assigned a named general practitioner (GP). For registered patients aged 75 years old and over, the named GP is required to respond to the patient’s needs in a timely manner and ensure the patient receives a routine health check if requested where the patient has not received one in the previous 12 months. In response to updated advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation on 3 December 2021, measures were announced to increase capacity in general practice to deliver an expanded COVID-19 vaccine programme. This includes allowing practices to defer routine annual health checks for new patients and patients aged 75 years old and over until April 2022, where practices consider this clinically appropriate. GP practices should continue to meet the reasonable needs of all registered patients, including those aged 75 years old and over. This includes providing necessary appointments and referrals.

Long Covid

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the emergence of the omicron covid-19 variant on rates of long covid.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to assess the potential impact of new variants of covid-19 on the risks of developing long covid.

Maria Caulfield: The Department uses estimates from the Office for National Statistics to monitor the prevalence of ongoing symptoms following COVID-19 infection which are published on a monthly basis. As the Omicron variant has recently been identified, it is too early to assess of the effect of the new variant on prevalence rates. The impact of the variant, including changes in clinical outcomes, will continue to be monitored.

Macular Degeneration: Medical Treatments

Peter Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to reduce the average waiting time for patients with appointments in eye clinics in England for the treatment of wet and of dry age-related macular degeneration.

Maria Caulfield: The National Health Service has continued to prioritise urgent treatment for sight-threatening eye conditions, such as wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Currently, there are no medical treatments for dry AMD, therefore these patients will not be waiting for therapeutic intervention.We are providing £2 billion through the Elective Recovery Fund to reduce waiting times, including for patients with AMD. We have also committed £8 billion from 2022 to 2025 to transform elective services and increase activity and a further £5.9 billion capital funding to support elective recovery, diagnostics and technology. We will publish the delivery plan for tackling the elective backlog in due course.

Meningitis: Vaccination

Sir Paul Beresford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps is the Government is taking to restore routine meningococcal immunisation programmes following disruption caused by the covid-19 outbreak.

Maria Caulfield: The delivery of the MenACWY vaccine was interrupted by the closure of schools from 23 March 2020. Vaccine delivery was resumed as soon as possible and NHS England and NHS Improvement continue to ensure any students affected by this disruption have the opportunity to be vaccinated. Vaccines against meningococcal B, given to children at one year old, were not paused during the pandemic. General practices continued to offer routine vaccination services, using social distancing and personal protective equipment. However, any child who did not receive their routine vaccinations during the pandemic remains eligible and general practitioners are able to provide the service to any child who has missed a vaccination.

Strokes: Anticoagulants

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with (a) the Royal College of Nursing and (b) other bodies on the use of blood thinners to reduce the occurrence of strokes.

Maria Caulfield: We have had no specific discussions. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published guidance on the diagnosis and management of atrial fibrillation which makes recommendations on stroke prevention, including the use of anticoagulants

Macular Degeneration: Medical Treatments

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his plans are for reducing the average waiting times for patients with appointments  for the treatment of (a) wet and (b) dry age-related macular degeneration in eye clinics in England.

Maria Caulfield: The National Health Service has continued to prioritise urgent treatment for sight-threatening eye conditions, such as wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Currently, there are no medical treatments for dry AMD, therefore these patients will not be waiting for therapeutic intervention.We have provided £2 billion through the Elective Recovery Fund to reduce waiting times, including for patients with AMD. We have committed £8 billion from 2022 to 2025 to transform elective services and increase activity and a further £5.9 billion capital funding to support elective recovery, diagnostics and technology. We will publish the delivery plan for tackling the elective backlog in due course.

Blood: Donors

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether (a) he and (b) officials in his Department have had discussions with relevant stakeholders on the potential merits of allowing flexibility on blood donation rules to permit more frequent donations when there is a clinical need.

Maria Caulfield: Departmental officials liaise regularly with NHS Blood and Transplant and with the Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs on a range of topics, including emergency procedures to facilitate increasing blood stocks when necessary.The Blood Safety and Quality Regulations 2005 include guidance on blood donation frequency with set donor intervals at 12 weeks for men and 16 weeks for women. Intervals are required as too frequent donations can result in serious side effects for donors. The Donor Selection Guidelines provide guidance for clinical exceptions where identified donors, such as individuals with genetic haemochromatosis, can donate blood up to every six weeks for their clinical benefit or need.

Dentistry: Staff

Ed Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent workforce planning he has undertaken for NHS dentistry; and if he will make a statement.

Maria Caulfield: NHS England and NHS Improvement are responsible for commissioning primary care dentistry to meet local need. Health Education England’s Advancing Dental Care Education and Training Review programme considers how dental and oral health needs can be met through changes to the workforce. This includes opportunities for flexible training pathways to improve career progression and retention and how to attract dentistry teams to provide NHS services in areas which are less well served.NHS England and NHS Improvement are developing proposals for dental system reform, working with the Department and key stakeholders. This programme seeks to make NHS dentistry more attractive to the profession, in addition to exploring how the whole dental team can be best utilised to deliver National Health Service care.

Dental Services

Ed Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve the accessibility and affordability of dental treatment in England; and if he will make a statement.

Maria Caulfield: The Department continues to work closely with the National Health Service to maximise the number of patients that can be seen safely, with NHS dentists now offering 65% of pre-pandemic levels of care. The NHS is targeting its available capacity at urgent care, vulnerable groups and children, followed by overdue routine care. There are a range of exemptions to patient charges and just under half of patients were treated free of charge in 2020/21.

Hospital Beds

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase hospital bed capacity over the winter months.

Edward Argar: The National Health Service will receive an extra £5.4 billion this year to support its response to COVID-19, which includes £478 million to continue the enhanced hospital discharge programme to increase bed capacity and support patient flow through hospitals. This is in addition to an extra £1 billion to tackle the elective care backlog, with more than £8 billion allocated for the next three years, which could provide approximately nine million additional checks, scans and procedures.

Cardiovascular Diseases: Community Diagnostic Centres

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, in what way the 100 community diagnostic centres will focus on (a) diagnosing heart and circulatory diseases and (b) the risk factors for heart and circulatory diseases, such as hypertension.

Edward Argar: Community diagnostics centres (CDCs) aim to carry out the range of diagnostic tests required for a patient. It is recommended that as a minimum all CDCs will provide cardiorespiratory measurements such as echocardiography, electrocardiogram, ambulatory hypertension monitoring and portable heart monitoring devises, to diagnose heart and circulatory diseases.Patients who present to their general practitioner with high blood pressure can be sent directly to a CDC for further testing. These tests can be undertaken efficiently, with IT links to cardiac and respiratory services in acute hospitals for some reporting.

Social Services: Finance

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the amount of funding required to maintain current standards and thresholds within the social care system over the next three years.

Gillian Keegan: We are providing councils with £1.6 billion of new funding per year from 2022/23 to 2024/25 for social care and other services. We are also assuming councils will have flexibility to increase the adult social care precept by 1% per year. We have also confirmed £5.4 billion for adult social care reform. This includes over £3.6 billion to reform the social care charging system and enable all local authorities to move towards paying providers a fair rate for care and over £1.7 billion to institute major improvements across the social care system in England.

NHS: Digital Technology

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to (a) support people with using digital NHS services and (b) protect the data of people who use those services.

Gillian Keegan: NHSX are working with Digital Unite, a social enterprise working with organisations and supporting people to achieve digital inclusion, on a platform for people to use digital technology for health purposes by becoming familiar with the NHS App and NHS.UK. To date, there are seven programmes across England supporting people to use technology to support their health.There are several safeguards in place such as legislation, security standards and toolkits, independent advisory bodies and a national data opt-out, which ensure that data is used in a safe, secure and lawful way.

Motor Neurone Disease: Medical Treatments

Holly Mumby-Croft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of potential effective treatments for MND; and what assessment he has made of the impact of funding levels on research into effective treatments for MND.

Gillian Keegan: There have been no specific assessments. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published a clinical guideline on the diagnosis and management of motor neurone disease (MND). This aims to improve care from the time of diagnosis and covers information and support, organisation of care, managing symptoms and preparing for end of life care. In addition, NICE has published technology appraisals guidance on riluzole, which is recommended for the treatment of individuals with the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis form of MND.We have committed £50 million for MND research over the next five years. New, innovative projects will help researchers to better understand the disease and its related conditions, develop and test treatments and improve care for those living with MND. We will also establish the National Institute for Health Research’s MND Research Unit to coordinate innovative research applications with the ultimate goal of finding a cure.

Hyperactivity: Drugs

Kim Leadbeater: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce the waiting time from diagnosis of ADHD to the patient receiving medication.

Gillian Keegan: Clinical commissioning groups and National Health Service trusts should have due regard to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guideline ‘Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: diagnosis and management’. This guideline, published in September 2019, aims to improve the diagnosis of ADHD, the quality of care and support that people receive, including access to medication. The guideline does not recommend a maximum waiting time from an individual receiving a diagnosis of ADHD to receiving medication.

Mental Health: Research

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to increase funding for mental health research.

Gillian Keegan: The Department funds research through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). In 2020/21, the NIHR spent £109.5 million on mental health research. We are also funding the Mental Health Research Initiative to expand current mental health research activity. The Initiative works across the NIHR’s programmes and infrastructure scheme to build the capacity and capability of mental health research in regions which are currently underrepresented. While it is not usual practice to ring-fence funds for particular topics or conditions, the NIHR’s funding is available through open competition and we encourage researchers to submit applications in this area.

Dementia: Research

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to implement the policy of doubling dementia research funding.

Gillian Keegan: The Government has committed to invest £375 million in neurodegenerative disease research over the next five years, to fund projects into a range of diseases including dementia. We will be setting out our plans on dementia for England for future years in 2022, including dementia research and increasing funding.

Mental Health Units (Use of Force) Act 2018

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish his Department's response to the consultation on guidance for the Mental Health Units (Use of Force) Act 2018.

Gillian Keegan: We remain committed to commencing the Mental Health Units (Use of Force) Act 2018 and publishing the statutory guidance. The Government’s response to the public consultation on this guidance and the guidance itself will be published shortly.

Bereavement Counselling: Finance

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of increasing funding for bereavement support following the covid-19 outbreak.

Gillian Keegan: Since March 2020, we have provided over £10.2 million to mental health charities, including those offering bereavement support. We continue to assess how to ensure grieving families and friends who have lost loved ones can receive the support they need.

Mental Health Services: Finance

Sam Tarry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support he is providing to local authorities on the provision of mental health services.

Gillian Keegan: In 2021/22 the total Public Health Grant to local authorities will be £3.324 billion. The Grant will be ring-fenced for use on public health functions, including public mental health.As part of the Mental Health Recovery Action Plan, £15 million will be invested in local authorities in the most deprived areas for prevention and early intervention services.

Mental Health Services: Finance

Sam Tarry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support he is providing to charities on the provision of frontline mental health services.

Gillian Keegan: We have invested £10.2 million last year to support the work of mental health charities and a further £5 million to the sector to support suicide prevention service delivery in 2021/22.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, by what date he estimates (a) 25, (b) 50 and (c) 75 per cent of people eligible for covid-19 booster vaccinations as at 18 October 2021 to have received that vaccination.

Maggie Throup: No specific estimate has been made. However, over 22 million people in the United Kingdom have now received a COVID-19 booster vaccination or third dose. We have confirmed all eligible adults in England aged 18 years old and over will be offered a booster vaccination by the end of January.The number of people in the UK who have received a COVID-19 booster vaccination or third dose is available at the following link:https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Chris Loder: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the primary care networks in Dorset in delivering the booster vaccination programme.

Maggie Throup: The Department and NHS England and NHS Improvement monitor the booster vaccine programme to ensure its effectiveness, including the Primary Care Networks (PCNs) delivering vaccinations in Dorset. There is a high demand for booster doses, with all 18 PCNs in Dorset delivering the service across 31 vaccinations sites. Additional provisions are also in place for those who are housebound, elderly, or in care, to ensure they can receive their booster dose.

Travel: Coronavirus

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his oral contribution of 6 December 2021, Official Report, column 64, whether he has any further advice for UK citizens who have contracted and recovered from covid-19 overseas on testing to demonstrate their negative status.

Maggie Throup: From 7 December 2021, all travellers are required to take a pre-departure test and receive a negative result to depart for England. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR), lateral flow device and LAMP tests may be used for this purpose. Recent infection and associated immunity is not necessarily associated with a residual positive PCR test. There is no guarantee that a new positive test outcome is not a new COVID-19 infection and potentially a variant of concern.

Travel: Coronavirus

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what urgent steps he is taking to ensure that 12 to 15 year old's can prove their covid-19 vaccination status for the purposes of international travel over the festive period.

Maggie Throup: The international standards for travel require a full course to be recognised as ‘fully vaccinated’. We are looking at ways to provide fully vaccinated 12 to 15 year olds with a travel NHS COVID Pass, which will be available shortly. Further information will be made available in due course.

Drugs: Rehabilitation

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to provide high quality rehabilitative care for people addicted to harmful substances and help ensure that deaths from substance abuse are reduced.

Maggie Throup: On 6 December the Government published its ten-year drug strategy ’From harm to hope: A 10 year drugs plan to cut crime and save lives’, setting out a long-term vision for tackling drug crime and improve treatment. Over the next three years £780 million will be invested to create a world-class treatment and recovery system, the largest single increase in treatment and recovery funding. This will allow local authorities to provide high quality rehabilitative care for people addicted to harmful substances, ensure that deaths from substance abuse are reduced and provide housing and employment support. The strategy is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/from-harm-to-hope-a-10-year-drugs-plan-to-cut-crime-and-save-lives

Obesity: Health Services

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) GP surgeries, (b) NHS Trusts and (c) community settings have agreed to take part in the National Obesity Audit.

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 2 November 2021 to Question HL3390 on Obesity: Surgery, what specific metrics will be recorded in the proposed National Obesity Audit.

Maggie Throup: NHS England and NHS Improvement have advised that data for the National Obesity Audit (NOA) will be collected through routine data collections including Hospital Episode Statistics and the Community Services Dataset. General practice data for planning and research will be subject to approval once the collection commences. The NOA will collect metrics which facilitate the audit to answer its seven questions and to achieve its stated aims of improving access and outcomes from weight management services. The NOA questions are as follows: - What proportion of people and which population groups living with overweight and obesity are being identified and recorded;- What proportion of people living with overweight and obesity have been offered appropriate NICE recommended interventions;- Which people with living with overweight and obesity access weight management services;- What are the short and long term weight loss outcomes of weight management services;- Do people living with overweight and obesity transition successfully between the different types of weight management services available and from children’s to adult services;- What are the health outcomes for people living with overweight and obesity; and- What is the coverage and provision of weight management services.

Smoking

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will introduce incremental targets in the years up to 2030 for the purposes of trying to reach the objective of a smoke free country by that date.

Maggie Throup: The Department is undertaking further policy development on the Tobacco Control Plan, including whether to introduce incremental targets. We will publish the Plan in due course.

Coronavirus: Protective Clothing

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the covid-19 infection rate was for each month following the removal of the requirement to wear face coverings in England on 19 July 20201; and what the comparable rates in (a) Scotland and (b) Wales were in those months.

Maggie Throup: The information is not available in the format requested. However, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) publishes weekly COVID-19 case rates for England which is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-flu-and-covid-19-surveillance-reports-2021-to-2022-seasonThe UKHSA does not monitor COVID-19 infection rates for the devolved administrations.

Smoking: Young People

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 19 November to Question 71299 on Smoking: Young People, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the fall in daily smoking among young people in Norway from 29 percent in 2000 to 1 percent in 2020.

Maggie Throup: Whilst smoking rates have decreased amongst those aged 16 to 24 years old in Norway, overall levels of tobacco use have remained stable. Evidence shows that the consumption of any tobacco product is harmful. We will continue to promote the use of nicotine replacement therapy and e-cigarettes as a way to quit smoking.

Obesity: Health Services

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Government's policies on tackling obesity; what recent discussions he has had with health representatives in (a) Scotland, (b) Wales and (c) Northern Ireland on the effectiveness of those policies; and if he will make a statement.

Maggie Throup: Since the publication of chapter one of the Childhood Obesity Plan in 2016, the average sugar content of drinks subject to the Soft Drinks Industry Levy decreased by 43.7% between 2015 and 2019. There has been approximately a 13% reduction of sugar in breakfast cereals, yogurts and fromage frais. We have introduced legislation on mandatory out-of-home calorie labelling for large restaurants, cafes and takeaways; restrictions on the promotion of less healthy foods by location and volume price in store and online; and restrictions on the advertising of less healthy foods on TV before 9pm and via online paid for advertising. We have also invested £100 million in healthy weight programmes including the expansion of weight management services and incentives. Officials in the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities are in regular contact with the devolved administrations on measures in our healthy weight strategy.

Coronavirus: Screening

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of the 5.7 million people who have been tested as covid-19 positive in the UK in the last six months have tested positive more than once in that period.

Maggie Throup: The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has not made an assessment of the proportion of reinfections of those who have tested positive for COVID-19 in the United Kingdom in the last six months. However, the UKHSA monitors weekly COVID-19 cases, including numbers and rates of reinfections in England. This data is published in the weekly COVID-19 Vaccine Surveillance Report, which is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-flu-and-covid-19-surveillance-reports-2021-to-2022-seasonData on COVID-19 reinfections is available to 31 October 2021 which shows that 72,264 possible reinfections have been identified since the first recorded case of a reinfection. In the same period there were 7.9 million first positive COVID-19 test results.

Air Pollution: Death

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to update the Public Health Outcomes Framework indicator, D01 - Fraction of mortality attributable to particulate air pollution from 2019 to 2020 to take into account the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs' population-weighted annual mean PM2.5 data for 2020.

Maggie Throup: The Public Health Outcomes Framework indicator (PHOF) - D01 is updated annually by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA). The UKHSA and the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities will be updating and publishing the PHOF-D01 for 2020 values in 2022, which will be based on the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs' Automatic Urban and Rural Network data.

Food Composition

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to introduce further measures to encourage the reformulation of food and drink products to reduce the level of (a) sugar, (b) salt and (c) calories in those products; and if he will make a statement.

Maggie Throup: The final sugar reduction progress report on reformulation is due to be published early in 2022. Next steps, which may include further measures, are being considered. Expert advice will continue to be provided to the Government, including an assessment of the voluntary approach on sugar, salt and calories.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason otherwise eligible people who received two vaccinations with an MHRA-approved vaccine in third countries are considered ineligible for a NHS vaccine booster, and what steps he is taking to enable people in this group to maintain their protection against covid-19 whilst in the UK.

Maggie Throup: If an individual has received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency in a third country, they will be eligible to receive a booster vaccination, provided they meet the eligibility criteria of the rest of the population. On 29 November, following advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, it was announced that all eligible adults aged 18 years old and over will be offered a booster vaccine by the end of January 2022.

Coronavirus: Screening

Nadia Whittome: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will undertake a new public information campaign on the difference between lateral flow tests and PCR tests for covid-19 and self-isolation requirements.

Maggie Throup: We have no plans to do so. Those who receive a positive polymerase chain reaction or assisted lateral flow device (LFD) test result or who self-report a positive LFD test receive specific advice on their self-isolation requirements.

Abortion: Telemedicine

Nadia Whittome: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to make access to telemedical abortions a permanent part of abortion care.

Maggie Throup: We are considering all evidence submitted to the Government’s public consultation on whether to make permanent the temporary measure allowing for home use of both pills for early medical abortion. We will publish our response in due course.

Vaccination: Children

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the minutes of the Joint Committee on Immunisation and Vaccinations (JCVI) meeting on 22 June 2021, for what reasons the JCVI does not have the modelling capacity needed to consider changes to the childhood immunisation schedule.

Maggie Throup: The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation relies on modelling work from a variety of sources to support its advice, including the UK Health Security Agency and academic groups. Modelling resource capacity is finite and resources are currently being used to support the COVID-19 pandemic response.

Coronavirus: Screening

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether background checks are being carried out on the (a) business and (b) associated people of providers listed on the gov.uk coronavirus travel test provider list.

Maggie Throup: These providers have not been subject to background checks. However, providers are subject to robust minimum standards before they can be added to the GOV.UK list and must continue to meet high standards and deadlines. The standards are available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/minimum-standards-for-private-sector-providers-of-covid-19-testingAny provider may be removed from GOV.UK on a precautionary basis pending investigation if they are believed to be putting public safety at risk or not meeting the minimum standards.

Coronavirus: Screening

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether criminal record checks are carried out on the (a) business and (b) associated people of companies listed as providers on the gov.uk coronavirus travel test provider list.

Maggie Throup: These providers are not subject to criminal record checks. However, any provider may be removed from GOV.UK on a precautionary basis pending investigation if they are believed to be putting public safety at risk or not meeting the minimum standards. The Department monitors issues raised by the public, taking action where appropriate.  We reserve the right to remove a provider from GOV.UK during this process and pass collected information through to regulatory bodies.

Abortion

Mr David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to (a) collect and (b) analyse data on the impact in clinical settings of women requiring medical intervention following the use of medication related to early medical abortions at home; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of instituting the regular central collection of data in respect of early medical abortions at home with a view to improving policy decisions; and if he will make a statement.

Maggie Throup: In accordance with the Abortion Act 1967 and the Abortion Regulations 1991, all abortions performed in England, including early medical abortions where both pills are taken at home, must be notified to the Chief Medical Officer within 14 days of the procedure. Any complication known to the practitioner terminating the pregnancy, at the time the notification is submitted, should be recorded on the Abortion Notification (HSA4) form. All serious incidents should be reported by the provider to their commissioner, the Care Quality Commission and other relevant organisations in line with the serious incident framework published by NHS England and NHS Improvement. The Department is undertaking a project to review the system of recording abortion complications data and we anticipate this work will be completed shortly. The review will cover all data on complications arising from abortion including home use of early medical abortion pills. To improve the accuracy of the data collected, the Department is working with a range of statutory bodies, professional organisations and abortion providers to identify additional sources of information that could be used to complement complications data collected via HSA4 abortion notification forms and improve the flow of data on abortion complications between different organisations, such as independent and National Health Service abortion providers and wider NHS health and care services.

Travel: Coronavirus

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, in the context of testing for covid-19, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that PCR test providers for travel, such as TestnGo, are (a) delivering tests on time and (b) providing an acceptable level of service.

Maggie Throup: We closely monitor the performance of private providers, including delivery and testing services, to ensure a high-quality service to customers. Those providing inadequate services receive a warning to demonstrate they have rectified their service and if they do not, are removed from the GOV.UK list. Private providers may be reinstated to the list once they have undertaken corrective action and provided the Department with such evidence.

NHS Test and Trace: Operating Costs

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the costs are of NHS Test and Trace each month.

Maggie Throup: The costs for NHS Test and Trace vary each month according to the prevalence of COVID-19. The budget for NHS Test and Trace activities in 2021/22 is £15 billion. On average this equates to approximately £1.25 billion per month.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to encourage uptake of the covid-19 vaccine among pregnant women.

Maggie Throup: Vaccine toolkits for local services, stakeholders, partners and employers include guidance on the concerns of pregnant women. We have shared case stories of women of childbearing age who have received the vaccine during or after pregnancy. NHS England and NHS Improvement’s Chief Midwifery Office and ‘media medics’ have made appearances on media to reassure people about concerns. At a local level we have also supported webinars and engagement sessions focused on women’s vaccines concerns and tailored to specific demographic groups. We have also introduced new communications content focused on younger age groups. This includes drawing on the support of social media sites which have a broad reach across younger women.NHS England and NHS Improvement are working with regional teams and providers to ensure that advice on vaccination in pregnancy, including the risks and benefits of vaccination to pregnant women, is being offered antenatally and that information materials are available across antenatal and primary care settings. NHS England and NHS Improvement have asked maternity and primary care services to support all general practitioners, practice nurses, midwives and obstetricians to give objective, evidence-based advice to women on vaccination in pregnancy at every antenatal contact. For healthcare professionals, there is a checklist to aid discussions on the potential benefits and risks of COVID-19 vaccination in pregnancy and to gain informed consent.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to prioritise pregnant women for the covid-19 booster vaccine.

Maggie Throup: On 29 November 2021, we updated our advice for all those aged 18 years old and above, including pregnant women and those individuals with severe immunosuppression who have had three primary doses, will be eligible for a booster vaccination.The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advises that women who are pregnant should be offered vaccination at the same time as non-pregnant women, based on their age and clinical risk group. As such, pregnancy alone is not currently a cause for prioritisation for a COVID-19 booster dose at this time. The Government has accepted this advice. The JCVI will review data as it emerges and consider further advice on booster vaccinations in the rest of the population.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, who in the NHS is responsible for advising patients who have a compromised immune system that they are eligible for a third dose of a covid-19 vaccine; and what are arrangements for patients to receive a third dose of vaccine.

Maggie Throup: A specialist or clinician should advise whether a patient fulfils the eligibility criteria for severe immunosuppression and on the timing of any third primary dose of COVID-19 vaccination. NHS England and NHS Improvement are developing tailored communications for specialists caring for each group of eligible patients. This will include template referral letters for clinicians to signpost where patients can receive their COVID-19 vaccination.If a vaccination cannot be offered at a hospital at the time of the patient’s visit, they will receive a letter from their consultant to access a vaccination at an alternative clinic. If a patient has already received a letter from their consultant or general practitioner advising on when they should receive their third primary dose, this can be presented at a walk-in vaccination site. Vaccinators require this letter to administer the dose. Any patient who has not yet been contacted but may be eligible for a third primary dose should contact their consultant.

Tobacco: Internet

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to prevent online sales of products containing nicotine to under-18s.

Maggie Throup: The Children and Young Persons (Sale of Tobacco etc.) Order 2007 and The Nicotine Inhaling Products (Age of Sale and Proxy Purchasing) Regulations 2015 ensure that tobacco and nicotine inhaling products can only be purchased by those who are aged 18 years old and over. This applies to both in person and online sales. The Department will consider whether the regulatory framework needs to be strengthened to protect young people from accessing products containing nicotine online.

Coronavirus

Nadia Whittome: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish updated guidance on the symptoms of covid-19 experienced by people who are vaccinated.

Maggie Throup: Evidence on the symptomatology of COVID-19 is regularly reviewed and monitored. However, there is no evidence to suggest that the symptoms of COVID-19 are significantly different in a vaccinated or unvaccinated person once they become infected.Vaccinated individuals who contract the virus can be asymptomatic or present with the same range of symptoms as those who have not received the vaccine but are less likely to be hospitalised or die.

Coronavirus: Disease Control

Nadia Whittome: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on whether the Government would a) reimpose restrictions on the hospitality sector and (b) reinstate job retention schemes in the event of a further covid-19 lockdown.

Maggie Throup: We have regular discussions with other Government departments on a range of issues related to controlling the spread of the virus. The current targeted and temporary measures will slow the entry and spread of the Omicron variant of concern and will be reviewed. This will protect the National Health Service from being overwhelmed. More economic and social restrictions would only be considered as a last resort, which includes restrictions on the hospitality sector.

Travel: Coronavirus

Paul Howell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether people who have received a positive PCR Covid-19 test in the last 90 days will still have to take a test on their return from international travel.

Maggie Throup: Travellers who have received a positive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test in the last 90 days will be required to take a PCR test on their return from international travel. There is no exemption to the testing or isolation requirements for entering England on the basis of natural immunity.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Ms Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what timeframe his Department has in place for issuing digital Covid recovery certificates; how many people were waiting for those certificates at 28 October 2021, what estimate his Department has made of the average time taken to issue certificates; and if he will make a statement.

Maggie Throup: The digital NHS COVID Pass for travel and use in England based on recovery is already available and can be accessed via the NHS App and NHS.UK. The digital Pass can be obtained following a positive National Health Service polymerase chain reaction result within the last 180 days and completion of the 10 day self-isolation period. NHS Test and Trace test results are generally available to individuals the next day or up to three days. The information requested on average waiting times for recovery passes is not held centrally. Recovery data should be available to the NHS COVID Pass service before the end of the self-isolation period, with 80% of recorded results available within two hours. Private tests are not currently included in the NHS COVID Pass.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Sarah Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that the vaccination status of covid-19 vaccine trial participants is correctly displayed on their NHS Covid Pass.

Maggie Throup: All clinical trial participants should now be able to access their domestic NHS COVID Pass via the NHS App or NHS.UK for use in England. Trial participants can view details of their trial vaccines in their NHS COVID Pass if their clinical trial site has uploaded vaccination information onto the National Health Service vaccine database. Participants should confirm with their clinical trial site that their data has been transferred. Since 7 December, clinical trial participants who have received additional ‘top up’ doses of approved vaccines can now also demonstrate these in their NHS COVID Pass for travel via the NHS App and NHS.UK.

Abortion: Ambulance Services

Mr David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has plans to introduce an advanced medical priority dispatch system code specifically for medical and ambulatory interventions following early medical abortions at home.

Maggie Throup: We have no plans to do so.

Health Services

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that NHS health checks are reinstated to enable health interventions such smoking cessation to be delivered.

Maggie Throup: The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities continues to support local authorities to recover activity on the NHS Health Check programme, where this was paused because of the pandemic. This includes publishing guidance to assist with restart planning and preparation, which is available at the following link:www.healthcheck.nhs.uk/commissioners-and-providers/national-guidance/ The NHS Health Check is an important gateway to helping people access interventions such as support to stop smoking. These services have continued to operate during the pandemic response as individuals are able to refer themselves directly.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the (a) shortest, (b) longest and (c) average period has been from receipt of an application from a community pharmacy to provide covid-19 vaccinations, to  that pharmacy being able to actively provide that service since 1 August 2021.

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many pharmacies have applied to be a covid-19 vaccination centre; and how many of those (a) were accepted, (b) were rejected and (c) are still being considered.

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many community pharmacies were providing covid-19 vaccinations as of 3 December 2021.

Maggie Throup: Since 1 August, the shortest period from receipt of application to a pharmacy providing the COVID-19 vaccination service was 14 days, the longest was 78 days with an average of 44 days.As of the end of September 2021, 4,733 contractors submitted 5,376 expressions of interest to take part in the booster vaccination programme, with 1,454 accepted. Expressions of interest which were not prioritised or designated will be considered again if requirements change and further expressions will be invited should further capacity be required. As of 3 December 2021, 1,336 community pharmacy vaccination sites were actively providing the service.

Dental Services: Oxfordshire

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate he has made of the number of patients who are unable to register with an NHS dentist in (a) Oxfordshire, (b) Oxford and (c) Abingdon.

Maria Caulfield: This information is not available as patients are not required to register with a National Health Service dental practice to access services.

Dentistry: Oxfordshire

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate he has made of the number of dentists in (a) Oxfordshire, (b) Oxford and (c) Abingdon.

Maria Caulfield: Data for practicing National Health Service dentists is available at national, regional and clinical commissioning group (CCG) level. In 2020/21, there were 411 dentists undertaking NHS activity in NHS Oxfordshire CCG.

Brain: Tumours

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what funding is available for research into brain tumours; and what research streams on brain tumours the Government is allocating funding to.

Maria Caulfield: In May 2018 the Government announced a £40 million investment over five years for brain tumour research as part of the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission, through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The NIHR released a public announcement to the research community, making clear our desire to receive brain tumour research funding applications. We are relying on researchers to submit high-quality research proposals.As with other Government funders of health research, the NIHR does not allocate funding for specific disease areas. The level of research spend in a particular area is driven by factors such as scientific potential and the number and scale of successful funding applications. The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including brain tumour research.

Department for Education

Schools: Staff

Kim Leadbeater: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to (a) protect and (b) support school staff from (i) abuse and (ii) aggression from parents and others in the school community.

Mr Robin Walker: It is never acceptable for anyone to harass or intimidate education staff. Schools can bar someone from the premises if they feel that their aggressive, abusive, or insulting behaviour or language is a risk to staff or pupils. Some incidents may constitute a criminal offence and schools should report those that they think may come into this category to the police.All schools are required by law to have a behaviour policy which outlines measures to encourage good behaviour, and the sanctions that will be imposed for pupils' misbehaviour. This should be communicated to all pupils, school staff and parents.The department will shortly be consulting on the behaviour in schools guidance and the suspensions and permanent exclusions guidance. These will equip headteachers to create calm, orderly, safe, and supportive school environments where both pupils and staff can flourish in safety and dignity. This will also encourage schools to work with parents in the creation of these positive school cultures.The department takes the wellbeing and mental health of education staff very seriously. In November 2021, the department announced the award of a £760,000 contract to the charity Education Support to provide peer support and counselling to around 2000 school leaders. Further information on this can be found at: https://www.educationsupport.org.uk/get-help/help-for-your-staff/wellbeing-services/school-leaders-support/england-live-application-school-leader-support-service/.Education Support also provides a free helpline for all education staff. Additionally, we have launched the education staff wellbeing charter. This charter is a set of commitments from the government, Ofsted, and schools and colleges to protect and promote the wellbeing of staff. It can be used to inform a school or college wide approach to wellbeing or to develop a staff wellbeing strategy. Further information on this charter can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/education-staff-wellbeing-charter.

Schools: Enfield

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps his Department has taken to (a) support schools in Enfield North constituency and (b) tackle regional inequality in school outcomes in the London Borough of Enfield.

Mr Robin Walker: The department is pursuing an ambitious programme of work to provide continued support to all schools across the country as well as tackling inequality in outcomes.The department wants to ensure that children and young people, including in Enfield, leave education better educated, better skilled, and equipped for successful and productive careers. The COVID-19 outbreak has been disruptive, but the department is helping pupils to recover, and support is especially focused on helping the most disadvantaged, vulnerable or those with least time left in education, wherever they live. Almost £5 billion in direct investment has been announced for education recovery. This includes an additional £1.8 billion of funding announced in the recent Spending Review to support young people to catch up on missed education. This is in addition to a strong core funding settlement, which will see core schools funding rise by £4.7 billion by the 2024-25 financial year compared to existing plans. The department’s overall £5 billion direct investment in education recovery includes:funding for up to 100 million tutoring hours for 5-19 year oldsmulti-year direct funding, so schools can deliver evidence-based interventions based on pupil needssummer schools in 2021extra time in 16-19 education500,000 training opportunities for school teachers and early years practitionersWe are investing in teachers, tutors and direct funding to schools and colleges, so they can determine how best to support the pupils that most need support, all of which benefits students in Enfield. This is in addition to the core school funding through the National Funding Formula (NFF) which targets 17% of its funding towards pupils with additional needs, including deprived pupils. This financial year, 2021-22, schools in Enfield North are attracting £5,730 per pupil through the schools NFF. In 2022-23, this NFF funding will increase to £5,879 per pupil. These figures are based on notional school-level NFF allocations. The department does not update constituency figures on actual school-level allocations. The distribution of the additional £1.6 billion for schools and high needs in 2022-23 secured in the Spending Review will be confirmed in due course.

Department for Education: Advertising

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much his Department is currently spending on television advertising on E4.

Michelle Donelan: The estimated amount spent on advertising on E4 by the department in financial year 2021/22 to date, is approximately £450,000.

National Tutoring Programme: Enfield

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students have been supported by the National Tutoring Programme in (a) Enfield North and (b) the London Borough of Enfield since November 2020.

Mr Robin Walker: National tutoring programme (NTP) participation data has not yet been published. We continue to collect data from schools for all three strands of the programme – school-led tutoring, tuition partners and academic mentors, and will be publishing this in due course.The NTP aims to engage up to 2 million pupils this year, and to deliver up to 90 million packages of tuition by the 2024/25 academic year.

Medicine: Higher Education

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will provide additional support to universities seeking to increase the number of places for students who want to study medicine.

Michelle Donelan: The goverment funded an expansion of medical school places by 1,500 between 2017 and 2020, and student numbers were temporarily increased further by 616 in 2020 and 742 in 2021. There are no plans to increase the number of publicly funded medical school places beyond this, but we continue to keep this under review.

Overseas Students: Coronavirus

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what measures he is putting in place to facilitate the return of international student in January 2021 in response to increasing covid-19 related travel restrictions.

Michelle Donelan: Visa concessions for those on student (or Tier 4) visas allow for the provision of online learning for students outside the UK until 6 April 2022. These visa concessions have been implemented so that students have a greater degree of flexibility on when they travel into the UK, if required.Students should look to travel to the UK in keeping with their course requirements and should speak to their education provider to understand these. Individual higher education providers make the decision about face-to-face learning in relation to students’ learning needs.The government is working closely with the higher education sector to ensure that providers are prepared to support students who may wish to stay in their university accommodation over the holidays due to possible travel disruption as well as international students returning in January.In addition, the government has liaised with the higher education sector throughout the COVID-19 outbreak to ensure they have been provided with the latest travel guidance that affects their international student population.During the COVID-19 outbreak, the UK higher education sector has gone above and beyond to ensure that international students’ physical and mental health are prioritised. The government will continue to work alongside the higher education sector to ensure international students are supported throughout their time in higher education.

Department for Education: Global Butterflies

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what funds have been paid by his Department to Global Butterflies in each of the last five years; and to what projects those funds were allocated.

Michelle Donelan: During the period from 1 April 2017 to 9 December 2021, the department has made no payments to Global Butterflies.

Ministry of Justice

Rainsbrook Secure Training Centre

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the reason was for the time elapsed between 18 June 2021 and the termination of the contract with MTC to run Rainsbrook Secure Training Centre; and how much funding from the public purse has been transferred to MTC in connection with that contract since (a) the date in May 2021 when the contract with MTC was originally due to expire and (b) 18 June 2021.

Victoria Atkins: The time elapsed between 18 June 2021 and the termination of the contract with MTC to run Rainsbrook Secure Training Centre was to allow for options to be considered on the future of the contract with MTC. The decision to extend MTC’s contract was made in November 2019, more than a year before the Urgent Notification was invoked by inspectors. At the time Ofsted’s assessment was that Rainsbrook ‘requires improvement’. While this is not the level of performance we would expect from any of our providers, it did not give rise to the concerns which became apparent much later in 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Payments to MTC have been solely to ensure staff are paid and that the fabric and security of the Rainsbrook building are maintained. MTC has received no additional payments from which they can profit. The centre was operating in a limited capacity beyond June 2021.

Prisons: Race Relations

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people employed across the prison estate have race relations as the primary purpose of their role, as of 7 December 2021.

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate she has made of the prison population who are BAME since 2017.

Victoria Atkins: Data held centrally does not provide information on the primary purpose of roles across the prison estate. This could only be provided at disproportionate cost as there would be a need for every prison in England and Wales to collate it locally. Annual data on the prison population by ethnicity group can be found in Table A1.9i of the Offender Management Statistics Quarterly publication. In 2018, we also introduced a new table (Table A1.9ii) showing the prison population by ‘detailed ethnicity group’. Both of these can be found at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1006270/Population_30June2021_Annual.ods.

Marriage: Law

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent discussions he has had with the Law Commission on the time taken for publication of their consultation into marriage law in England and Wales; and what her planned timetable is for responding to the Commission's recommendations in the event that it is published in July 2022.

Tom Pursglove: The Government will carefully consider the Law Commission’s recommendations when the final report is published – this is expected to be in July 2022. The Government will be able to advise further on a timetable to respond to the Law Commission’s proposals once it has received these and assessed the breadth and complexity of the proposals.

Derwentside Immigration Removal Centre

Kate Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to his Answer of 29 November 2021 to Question 79500, which existing providers at Yarl's Wood immigration removal centre have expressed an interest in providing legal advice under the contingency arrangements at Derwentside IRC.

Kate Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 29 November 2021 to Question 79500, what plans there are for (a) 30 minute appointments and (b) legal visits subsequent to 30 minute appointments under the Detained Duty Advice Scheme to be conducted (i) in-person or (ii) remotely under the contingency arrangements at Derwentside Immigration Removal Centre.

Kate Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 29 November 2021 to Question 79500 on Derwentside Immigration Removal Centre, whether (a) 30-minute appointments and (b) legal visits subsequent to a 30 minute appointment under the Detained Duty Advice Scheme in all immigration removal centres were been conducted by phone in the latest period for which figures are available.

James Cartlidge: The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) operates free legal advice surgeries in IRCs in England. Individuals who are detained are entitled to receive up to 30 minutes of advice regardless of financial eligibility or the merits of their case. There is no restriction on the number of surgeries an individual may attend. If an individual who is detained requires substantive advice on a matter which is in scope of legal aid, full legal advice can be provided if the statutory legal aid means and merits criteria are met.In order to provide access to Detention Duty Advice Scheme (DDAS) services for women held at Derwentside Immigration Removal Centre (IRC) from 1 January 2022, existing providers at Yarl’s Wood IRC were invited to submit expressions of interest to provide services on a contingency basis. As a result, the following providers will be awarded rota slots at Derwentside IRC:Provider All Legal SolicitorsCaveat Solicitors LimitedCB Legal Advisory LimitedCK SolicitorsDuncan Lewis & CoFadiga & CoImmigration Advice ServiceJCWIMilestone Solicitors LimitedNR Legal Solicitors LimitedThe Migrant Law PartnershipVirgo Consultancy Services LimitedWoolfe & Co Solicitors LtdIn line with Government advice on social distancing, the LAA DDAS is currently operating by phone in IRCs. Remote advice will be made available to women housed at Derwentside IRC on this basis.In line with Government advice on social distancing, the LAA DDAS has been operating by phone in IRCs, including during the latest period for which figures are available (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/legal-aid-statistics-quarterly-april-to-june-2021). Any exceptions to this are at the discretion of individual IRCs, such as if there is a justifiable requirement for a provider to attend in person.

Department for International Trade

Equipment: Israel

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that British manufacturers are prohibited from selling equipment to Israeli distributors to be used to demolish homes in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: For items that are subject to an export licence, HM Government takes its strategic export responsibilities seriously and will assess all export licences in accordance with the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria. We will not grant a licence authorising the supply of controlled items anywhere in the world, if to do so would be inconsistent with the Criteria.We continue to monitor the situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories closely, and we will take action to suspend, refuse or revoke licences – in line with the Criteria – if circumstances require.

Trade Agreements: USA

Colum Eastwood: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what recent assessment she has made of the impact of negotiations on the Northern Ireland Protocol on the prospects of a trade deal with the US.

Colum Eastwood: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what recent discussions she has had with her US counterpart on the Northern Ireland Protocol; and what effect concerns raised by the US administration on the Northern Ireland Protocol and Article 16 have on the Government's negotiating position in respect of EU proposals which would lead to an 80 per cent reduction in checks on food products arriving in Northern Ireland.

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: As stated on 2nd December by my Rt Hon. Friend, the Member for Portsmouth North, discussions with the European Union on the Northern Ireland Protocol and discussions with the United States on a prospective Free Trade Agreement are two entirely separate issues. We do not see any connection between them and will not perpetuate such false narratives. The Secretary of State for International Trade remains in regular contact with her counterpart, United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai, on our bilateral relationship. During their meeting on 20th September, they discussed a range of topics including the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland, and they met again on 7th December.

Cotton: Xinjiang

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that cotton produced in Xinjiang province through the forced labour of Uyghur Muslims does not enter the UK supply chain.

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: HM Government has announced a number of measures to help make sure that no British organisation is complicit, through their supply chains, in the violation of rights and responsibilities occurring in Xinjiang. The United Kingdom has taken a leading international role in holding China to account for such violations, including helping to secure the support of 43 countries for a joint statement at the UN in October that called on China to allow “immediate, meaningful and unfettered access to Xinjiang for independent observers.” We are committed to ongoing discussions on cotton and trade related matters at the WTO too, and recognise the importance of reform to the global cotton market, which will benefit the most vulnerable in particular.

Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what the timescale is for the UK's entry into the CPTPP.

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: On 28th September, the United Kingdom took the next step towards membership of this important and growing trading group, kicking off the first round of talks with officials from all members of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). The United Kingdom has made significant progress towards acceding to the agreement, with discussions on key areas such as e-commerce and procurement. We have an ambitious timeline for British accession to CPTPP and hope to conclude negotiations by the end of 2022.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Afghanistan: Malnutrition

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of levels of hunger and malnutrition in Afghanistan; and if she will make a statement.

James Cleverly: Afghanistan is facing a serious and worsening humanitarian crisis. The UN estimates that 22.8 million people, 55% of the population, are now from high levels of insecurity, over a third more than at this time last year. We are monitoring the crisis and its drivers such as consecutive drought and economic uncertainty, including rising food prices and decreasing food availability, to inform our humanitarian programming. The Foreign Secretary attended the G7 Foreign and Development Ministers' Meeting in Liverpool on Saturday 11 December and pledged £75 million of UK emergency aid to the Afghan people to provide life-saving food, and emergency health services as well as shelter, water and hygiene services.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Global Butterflies

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what funds have been paid by her Department to Global Butterflies in each of the last five years; and to what projects those funds were allocated.

Amanda Milling: The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has not provided funding to Global Butterflies in the last five years.

Diplomatic Service: Burns Night

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, which British embassies and consulates plan to (a) host or (b) support Burns nights in 2022.

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps British embassies and consulates are taking to promote Scotland through Burns Night celebrations in their place of location.

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he provide details of the British embassies and consulates that used St Andrew's Night 2021 as an opportunity to promote Scotland.

Amanda Milling: The United Kingdom's diplomatic and trade network overseas promotes the interests and diversity of the whole of the UK to other countries. This includes, but is not limited to, promoting Scotland at events hosted to mark St Andrew's Day and Burns Night.We do not hold a central log of all such events hosted across the world. In 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many UK missions overseas promoted Burns Night and Scotland virtually through social media.In 2022, like every year, our diplomatic network will be encouraged to use Burns Night and St Andrew's Day to promote Scottish culture, tourism, produce and trade and investment.In addition to Burns Night and St Andrew's Day events, our overseas network continuously looks to promote Scotland and Scottish interests overseas throughout the year. In October, the Foreign Secretary and Lord Offord used their visit to India, the UK's second biggest investor, to promote Scottish engineering, business and exports, including whisky. UK missions overseas also used Glasgow's hosting of COP26 to increase Scotland's international profile.

Forests: Conservation

Sam Tarry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government plans to take to tackle deforestation in (a) Malaysia and (b) other countries that participate in deforestation, while protecting the economies of those countries.

Amanda Milling: The Government is determined to do all it can to halt and reverse forest loss, and this was a priority for COP26. The Glasgow Leaders Declaration on Forests and Land Use, setting out a commitment to halt and reverse forest loss by 2030, has now been endorsed by 142 countries, including Malaysia. This will help to drive forward national action to protect forests. The UK has committed up to £1.5 billion over five years to support such action to protect and restore forests in developing countries.The response to deforestation needs to balance economic interests and environmental protection. This is the approach taken in the Forest and Agriculture Commodity Trade (FACT) Dialogue, which was launched by the UK Presidency at COP26. The dialogue establishes a new partnership between the largest producers and consumers of agricultural commodities, such as palm oil, soya and cocoa, and aims to build collaboration to protect forests while promoting sustainable trade. Malaysia is one of the 28 participating countries.

Russia: Ukraine

Stewart Malcolm McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has had discussions with the Home Secretary on the potential for large numbers of refugees fleeing Ukraine in the event of a full scale invasion by the Russian Federation.

Stewart Malcolm McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the humanitarian, economic and political consequences of a full scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation; and if she will make a statement.

Wendy Morton: We are closely monitoring the situation with our allies. Any military incursion by Russia into Ukraine would be a strategic mistake. The costs to Russia would be catastrophically high and result in massive strategic consequences, including severe economic sanctions. Russia needs to de-escalate now and return to diplomatic channels.We have been clear, to both Ukraine and Russia, that the UK and our allies are unwavering in our support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. The Prime Minister underlined this on 7 December in his discussion with President Biden, Prime Minister Draghi, President Macron and Chancellor Merkel. The Foreign Secretary also reflected this in her meetings with Ukraine Foreign Minister Kuleba on 8 December at the inaugural UK-Ukraine Strategic Dialogue, and with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov on 2 December.Our Embassy in Kyiv continues to monitor the situation throughout Ukraine, and will update our travel advice and draw it to the attention of British Nationals via our social media channels as the situation evolves.

Germany: Politics and Government

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the incoming German Government’s programme for government..

Wendy Morton: Germany is an essential ally and one of our most important international partners. We welcome the new German coalition government agreement's description of the UK as one of Germany's closest partners. There are many areas where we can intensify our joint work, including on: climate; science and innovation; and defence and security cooperation, such as the international response to malign activity. There is much we can do together on championing our democratic values, such as gender equality; supporting global economic recovery from the pandemic, including access to vaccines; international development; humanitarian relief and conflict prevention. We stand ready to support Germany as they take over the G7 Presidency and will continue to work closely in other multilateral fora such as NATO and the UN.

Military Alliances

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the potential merits of the UK joining the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue.

James Cleverly: The Prime Minister made clear through this year's Integrated Review that an increased focus on the Indo-Pacific is a key priority for this government. We are therefore building and strengthening partnerships bilaterally, multilaterally and in minilateral groupings across the region. The Indo-Pacific Quad is increasingly important to four of the UK's closest partners in the region (Australia, India, Japan and the US). The UK welcomes the outcomes of the two leaders' level Quad summits in March and September 2021, which echo many of the UK's priorities, including climate change, COVID-19 response, emerging technology and infrastructure. We are looking at options for closer practical cooperation with Quad members in these areas.

Afghanistan: Females

Dr Luke Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on supporting educational opportunities for women and girls in Afghanistan.

James Cleverly: We continue to press the Taliban to ensure the full and equal access to education for all. Secondary schools are now open to girls in at least 10 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces and the Taliban have publicly said they are working towards a plan to get all girls back to school. The Foreign Secretary has discussed women's rights, including girls' education, with international counterparts including at the G7 and at the 12 October extraordinary meeting of G20 Leaders on Afghanistan, where the Foreign Secretary represented the Prime Minister. We will continue to work with the international community to use our influence to secure women's and girls' rights to access to education and jobs and to participate in public life. The Minister of State for South Asia, UN and the Commonwealth, attended the annual Women, Peace and Security Open Debate at the UN Security Council in October and met prominent Afghan women to discuss how the UK can best support Afghan women and girls.

Afghanistan: Politics and Government

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to identify people at risk in Afghanistan.

James Cleverly: Providing assistance to those individuals eligible for HMG support remains a top priority and we will continue to work to take advantage of all opportunities to help those eligible to come to the UK. We have created a new Joint Afghanistan Casework Unit (JACU), staffed by officials from the Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office, Home Office and Ministry of Defence, which is taking forward the UK's commitment to resettle individuals and those family members confirmed to be eligible. We continue to facilitate the departure of British nationals and eligible Afghan nationals from Afghanistan via land and air. Our Afghan Citizens' Resettlement Scheme will welcome up to 5,000 vulnerable Afghans to the UK in its first year, with up to a total of 20,000 over the coming years.

Developing Countries: Females

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when she plans to restore the women and girls development budget to what it was prior to the reduction in Official Development Assistance.

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what (a) organisations and (b) governments will have their development budgets for women and girls restored to the pre-Official Development Assistance reduction levels.

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to her plans to restore budgets for women and girls to levels from before reductions in Official Development Assistance, whether sexual and reproductive health and rights funding will be restored to UNFPA and its supply programme.

Vicky Ford: We are restoring funding for women and girls to pre-Official Development Assistance cut levels over the Spending Review period, focusing on giving more girls a quality education; ending the extremely harmful practice of female genital mutilation, supporting girls' health; and ending the abhorrent use of sexual violence around the world.The UK is firmly committed to defending comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) globally - this includes family planning and maternal health, both central to the empowerment of women and girls. Any funding for SRHR will contribute to UK objectives to improve the lives of women and girls across the world. No decisions on funding to individual organisations have been made to date. This will be worked through as part of the FCDO's Business and Country Planning process over the coming months. Following the Spending Review, decisions on allocations and individual programmes will be published in the usual way.

Afghanistan: Politics and Government

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, further to UK officials meeting with senior members of the Taliban on 5 October 2021, what recent discussions she has had with her international counterparts on Afghanistan’s interim government.

James Cleverly: The Foreign Secretary discussed Afghanistan at the NATO Foreign Minister's meeting in Riga on 30 November and has had bilateral discussions with a range of other partners, including in the margins of COP26. The Foreign Secretary will be convening a discussion on Afghanistan at the G7 Foreign and Development Ministers meeting in Liverpool on 10 December.

Ethiopia: Human Rights

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with her Ethiopian counterpart on the observance of international laws and human rights in that country.

Vicky Ford: We are extremely concerned by reports of widespread human rights violations and abuses in Ethiopia committed by all sides to the conflict. The Foreign Secretary spoke to Deputy Prime Minister Demeke on 5 November. Our Ambassador in Addis Ababa spoke to Prime Minister Abiy on 28 October. I spoke at a Westminster Hall Debate on 3 November and highlighted the horrific scale and nature of human rights abuses against civilians reported following the joint investigation by the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. I raised our concerns about ethnic profiling and detentions with Ethiopian State Minister Redwan on 18 November and the Ethiopian Minister of Justice, Gedion, on 6 December. I have continued to emphasise the need for a ceasefire through recent calls with my international counterparts, including Kenya and the African Union.All those responsible for human rights violations and abuses should be held to account. I encourage all parties to implement the joint investigation's recommendations and ensure that victims have access to support. Our Ambassador in Addis Ababa and I continue to raise human rights issues in our discussions with all parties to the conflict, and more broadly we have reminded all warring parties of their obligations under international humanitarian law and international human rights law. Our priority is to ensure that Ethiopians, irrespective of ethnicity, religion and political affiliation, receive life-saving aid and that humanitarian access to areas affected by conflict and insecurity is restored.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Telephone Services

Stewart Malcolm McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will publish the call logs for the (a) former Foreign Secretary and (b) Permanent Under-Secretary covering the period 31 July 2021 to 15 August 2021.

James Cleverly: Following questions at his oral evidence session with the Foreign Affairs Committee on 1 September, the former Foreign Secretary wrote to the Committee on 15 September with a number of answers to questions concerning his and other FCDO Ministers' telephone calls, including during that period, as he promised. We will publish details of all calls and meetings in line with Cabinet Office Transparency requirements in due course. We do not publish details of internal meetings. The PUS had two external calls during the period, with Save the Children and the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

Developing Countries: Forests

Sam Tarry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what support will be given to developing countries reliant on deforestation to make products for export to help meet net-zero targets.

Vicky Ford: The Government is determined to do all it can to halt and reverse forest loss, and this was a COP26 priority. The Glasgow Leaders Declaration on Forests and Land Use, setting out a commitment to halt and reverse forest loss by 2030, has now been endorsed by 142 countries. Substantial finance has been committed to help developing countries work towards the aims of the declaration, including a collective pledge by 12 donor countries to provide US$12 billion from 2021-25.The response to deforestation needs to balance economic interests and environmental protection. This is the approach taken in the Forest and Agriculture Commodity Trade (FACT) Dialogue, which was also launched at COP26. The dialogue establishes a new partnership between the largest producers and consumers of agricultural commodities, such as palm oil, soya and cocoa, and aims to build collaboration to protect forests while promoting sustainable trade. At the launch of the FACT Dialogue at COP26, the UK committed up to £500m for follow-up action, implemented through FCDO's Investments in Forests and Sustainable Land Use programme. The funding will protect an estimated 5m hectares of forest and create thousands of green jobs, including in sustainable agriculture and forestry.

Afghanistan: Food Aid

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to support NGOs to provide and distribute food parcels in Afghanistan.

James Cleverly: We have committed to provide £286 million in humanitarian and development support and are providing life-saving humanitarian food ​assistance to Afghanistan through the UN, NGOs and the Red Cross Movement on the ground, who are continuing to ensure vital aid reaches those who need it most. Between April and November, we disbursed over £70 million for life-saving humanitarian support, including for emergency food, health, nutrition, shelter, water and sanitation, and mine action. We continue to monitor this closely.

Developing Countries: Nutrition

Kirsten Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 10 November 2021 to Question 68244, on Developing Countries: Nutrition, what additional Overseas Development Assistance for nutrition has been allocated to meet the UK's commitments at the Tokyo Nutrition for Growth Summit 2021.

Wendy Morton: The UK remains committed to tackling malnutrition. Our commitment at the Nutrition for Growth Summit to integrate nutrition objectives across all relevant FCDO programmes means that nutrition will play a key role in achieving our objectives on ending the preventable deaths of mothers, babies and children, as well as women and girls, humanitarian aid and global health and we will use the nutrition policy marker to hold ourselves account.The 2021 Spending Review concluded on 27 October 2021 and set departmental budgets for the next three financial years. Following this, the FCDO is currently working through an internal business planning exercise, which will determine ODA for nutrition programming.

GCHQ: Amazon Web Services

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential positive impact of GCHQ’s cloud computing contract with Amazon Web Services on the domestic cloud sector.

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential ways the UK cloud sector can become involved in the supply chain for Amazon Web Services' cloud computing contract with GCHQ.

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what safeguards are in place to protect the data of UK citizens in the event that Amazon Web Services becomes subject to a US law enforcement request in relation to the data its servers will hold as part of the recently reported GCHQ cloud computing services contract.

Elizabeth Truss: The national security community does not routinely avow details of the technology partnerships it enters into. Releasing details concerning national security technology can have significant security implications as would be the case in this scenario. Any contract can be fully scrutinised through the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament.We have a long-standing, 75-year intelligence relationship with the United States, which is invaluable to each country's national security. The alliance has clear guidelines for how we share communication, translation, analysis, and code breaking information, and has helped protect our countries and allies for decades. Any move to cloud does not change this agreement.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Chris Law: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 4 November 2021 to Question 66206 on Coronavirus: Vaccination, what price the Government allocates to a single dose of a covid-19 vaccine when it is donated to low incomes countries and counted as Official Development Assistance.

Wendy Morton: The cost per dose of the UK's COVID-19 vaccines is commercially sensitive information, and cannot be disclosed. Donations to countries eligible for Official Development Assistance (ODA) will be reported as ODA. The OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) will shortly issue guidelines on the specific reporting of vaccine donations in 2021.

Ministry of Defence

Shipbuilding

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his timescale is for publishing the National Shipbuilding Strategy refresh.

Mr Ben Wallace: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Damen Group: Contracts

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Government contracts have been awarded to Damen in the last ten years.

Jeremy Quin: A search has found no contracts awarded by the Ministry of Defence to the Damen Group in the last ten years (this would not preclude them being engaged by a Prime as a Sub-Contractor). Any contracts awarded by other parts of Government would a matter for individual departments.

Shipbuilding: Standards

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent comparative assessment his Department has made of the efficiency of shipyards in (a) the UK and (b) Europe.

Jeremy Quin: The National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSbS) Refresh has been informed by comparative assessments of UK shipyards against international competitors. Based on these assessments and extensive consultation across the shipbuilding enterprise, the NSbS Refresh will address the most important enablers of success for the sector.The National Shipbuilding Office (NSO) has been established to lead the implementation of the NSbS Refresh, which will further increase our shipyard's competitiveness.The NSO will set the conditions for success, but industry must capitalise on these if the enterprise is to realise its shared ambitions.

Ukraine: Military Alliances

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the value is of the (a) sale of two Sandown-class minehunters, (b) sale of eight small missile warships and (c) UK involvement in the frigate programme in relation to the agreement to support enhancement of Ukrainian naval capabilities.

Jeremy Quin: Contractual discussions between UK suppliers to the Ukrainian Naval Capabilities Enhancement Programme (UNCEP) remain ongoing, and details of precise contract prices would be commercially confidential.

RFA Fort Victoria

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department plans to extend the service life of RFA Fort Victoria beyond 2028.

Jeremy Quin: There are no current plans to extend RFA Fort Victoria beyond 2028.

Ministry of Defence: Litigation Group

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what services the Government Legal Department’s Litigation Group has provided to his Department since 1 January 2021.

Leo Docherty: Since 1 January 2021, Litigation Group has continued to provide litigation services to the majority of Government Departments, including the Ministry of Defence, and executive agencies, as well as many non-departmental public bodies.The Group's work encompasses litigation in public and private law as well as supporting public inquiries and acting in Inquests. This has involved, amongst other things, attending in a wide range of courts, including Coroners' Courts, the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal, the Royal Courts of Justice and the Supreme Court. Our Employment and Commercial Groups similarly provide litigation services to the majority of government departments and have done so in the period in question.

Army Foundation College: Sexual Offences

Martin Docherty-Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the response to FOI2021/09403 on 21 September 2021, how many of the 41 complaints of rape and sexual assault made to the Service Police by women under the age of 18 in the armed forces since 2015 were from women at the Army Foundation College in Harrogate.

Leo Docherty: Of the 41 complaints of rape and sexual assault made to the Service Police by women under the age of 18 in the armed forces since 2015 and referenced in the response to FOI2021/09403 on 21 September 2021, approximately five were from women at the Army Foundation College in Harrogate.These figures are single Service estimates; not official statistics produced or checked by Defence Statistics and are subject to known data quality issues affecting accuracy. This figure has been rounded to five as a means of disclosure control and the preservation of anonymity, as well as conveying an appropriate level of precision.This figure has been sourced from the Service Police crime record management system. As this is a live system not designed to produce statistics and reliant on individual interpretation, this figure may not match responses to other similar requests.Official Defence Statistics relating to sexual offences investigations are held and published annually on the .gov.uk website.You will also wish to be aware that the MOD has made it absolutely clear there is no place for unacceptable behaviour in the Armed Forces. We recognise the great courage it takes to come forward and report a sexual offence and Commanding Officers must always refer any allegation of rape and sexual assault, or any other offence which may have a sexual element, to the Service Police. All allegations are thoroughly investigated, and support provided to alleged victims.

Warships: Procurement

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has plans to assess whether the tender for the Special Purpose Ship is legally compliant.

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether legal advice was taken by his Department prior to the publication of the Special Purpose Ship tender.

Jeremy Quin: The value and nature of the tender for the Special Purpose Ship sits within the commercial delegations of the Royal Navy's procurement process when applying the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 and supporting framework, meaning individual legal advice is not usually taken for each such tender.However, I have asked the Royal Navy to review the details of this tender and will write to the rightt hon.Member in due course and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.

Ministry of Defence: Global Butterflies

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what funds have been paid by his Department to Global Butterflies in each of the last five years; and to what projects those funds were allocated.

Jeremy Quin: The Ministry of Defence has not paid any funds to Global Butterflies.

Ministry of Defence: Empty Property

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to bring empty homes in Linton-on-Ouse into use for resettlement purposes.

Jeremy Quin: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) currently has 76 houses located outside the security fence at Linton-on-Ouse. All are on lease from Annington Homes Ltd (AHL). MOD made a contractual commitment on 6 August 2021 to hand back 56 houses with vacant possession to AHL on 9 February 2022, after which they will no longer be controlled by the Department. This is part of an ongoing contractual requirement to hand back MOD houses to AHL on an annual basis. The remaining 20 houses need to be retained for use by the Department. Houses inside the security fence are not available for use other than by military families.

Armoured Fighting Vehicles: Technology

Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the investigations into the concerns that headsets used by personnel in armoured fighting vehicles were causing hearing problems have concluded; and what the results of the investigation have been to date.

Jeremy Quin: Investigations remain ongoing. As it becomes available, the data from this testing will be combined with our knowledge of the in-service Armoured Fighting Vehicle (AFV) operating environment to ensure safety advice and guidance to operational commanders remains current.

Astute Class Submarines

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the number of Astute submarines to be operated by the Royal Navy remains at seven.

Jeremy Quin: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 12 March 2021, to Question 165451.165451 - Astute Class Submarines (docx, 15.2KB)

Department for Work and Pensions

Coronavirus: Scotland and Wales

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions,  pursuant to the Answer of 3 December 2021 to Question 82339, Coronavirus: Scotland: Wales, for which non-customer-facing roles in Jobcentres are staff required to attend the office.

Mims Davies: Some colleagues based in Jobcentres are in non-customer facing roles, in back of house service delivery and corporate roles. Largely, these colleagues are able to work in a hybrid way, with some time spent in the office and some time at home. Although some service delivery roles such as Work Coach Team Leaders are not customer facing, they do support customer facing staff therefore it may be necessary for them to be in the office. Following recent announcements colleagues have been advised to follow the government guidance regarding working from home. Colleagues in Scotland and Wales have been advised to follow the guidance provided by the devolved administrations. This does not impact those colleagues accountable for delivering face-to-face services in our jobcentres in front of house roles.

Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the impact of the end of support under the Coronavirus Job retention Scheme on the level of demand for appointments at jobcentre plus centres.

Mims Davies: The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme was a temporary measure that supported businesses and workers affected by the pandemic that came to an end on 30th September 2021. As the UK economy has reopened, employment and demand for workers have consistently grown. Vacancies are at a record high of over 1.1 million. The number of employees on payroll in October 2021 is 235,000 above the pre-COVID level, growing by 160,000 people between September and October 2021. In October 2021 the claimant count fell by 15,000 – the eighth month in a row the number of unemployment-related benefits claimants has fallen. That is why it is right the Government continues to wind down its temporary pandemic support, while continuing to support businesses to invest in the recovery and support people into work.

Restart Scheme

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans her Department has to compel benefit claimants to participate in Restart placements.

Mims Davies: Once a Universal Credit claimant has been referred to the Restart programme, participation on the programme is mandatory as part of their claimant commitment. Restart programme providers’ interactions must reflect their personal circumstances and preferences of each participant. All activities should be agreed together to encourage participants to complete them voluntarily, using a variety of methods and approaches to achieve this. Providers may consider using mandation, where attempts to engage with participants have not been successful.

Kickstart Scheme

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 8 December 2021 to Question 87677 on Kickstart Scheme, if she will publish the most up to date statistics as of 8 December 2021.

Mims Davies: We are unable to provide the information requested in the time available, as to do so would incur disproportionate costs. I will write to the Rt Hon. Member shortly and place a copy of the response in the House Library.

Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the impact of the end of support under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme on levels of child poverty.

David Rutley: Official child poverty statistics covering the period 2020/21, will be published in March 2022, as part of the Department’s (a) Children in Low Income Families and (b) Households Below Average Income publications, subject to the usual checks on data quality. This Government believes work is the best route out of poverty. Our approach is based on clear evidence about the importance of parental employment - particularly where it is full-time – in substantially reducing the risks of child poverty and in improving long-term outcomes for families and children. In 2019/20, children in households where all adults were in work were around six times less likely to be in absolute poverty (before housing costs) than children in a household where nobody works. Compared with 2010, there were almost 1 million fewer workless households and almost 580,000 fewer children living in workless households in the UK in September 2021. Furthermore, our multi-billion-pound Plan for Jobs, which has recently been expanded by £500 million, will help people across the UK to find work and to boost their wages and prospects. However, we recognise that some people may require extra support over the winter as we continue our recovery from the impacts of the COVID pandemic, which is why vulnerable households will be able to access a new £500 million support fund to help them with essentials. This includes £421 million for the Household Support Fund, which will help vulnerable people in England with the cost of food, utilities and wider essentials.

Universal Credit

Ms Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Universal Credit Programme Board minutes, UCPB140519 Paper 1, deposited in the House of Commons Library on 28 October 2021, whether her Department met its three core learning objectives for the managed migration pilot of testing (a) ability to be able to calculate, explain, pay and erode Transitional Protection, (b) engagement and effective mobilisation to successfully claim universal credit at the right time and (c) the support mechanisms particularly identifying and supporting complex and vulnerable claimants through their journey.

Ms Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Universal Credit Programme Board minutes, UCPB140519 Paper 1, deposited in the House of Commons Library on 28 October 2021, whether sufficient confidence in the Department's three core learning objectives for the managed migration pilot has been established to allow the approach to be extended.

Ms Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Universal Credit Programme Board minute, UCPB160719 Paper 1, deposited in the House of Commons Library on 28 October 2021, whether her Department has cancelled plans for a Learn How to Grow phase of managed migration.

Ms Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Universal Credit Programme Board minute, UCPB160719 Paper 1, deposited in the House of Commons Library on 28 October 2021, whether it remains her Department's policy to proceed with the Trusted Partner Approach for managed migration.

David Rutley: The pilot that had been active in Harrogate was suspended as the Department focused on delivering its part of the Government’s ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Department will make an announcement in due course on the plan for Move to Universal Credit.

Fuel Poverty

Mick Whitley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of Age UK's recommendation that in order to tackle fuel poverty, especially amongst older people (a) the Household Support Fund should be doubled and (b) persons eligible for the Cold Weather Payment should be provided with a £50 one-off payment in winter 2021-22.

Guy Opperman: The Government has committed to keeping the Winter Fuel Payment, which helps older people with the cost of heating their homes in the winter. The payment gives reassurance to pensioners that Government assistance is available and that they can keep warm during the colder months. Over 11 million pensioners benefit from Winter Fuel Payments at an annual cost of £2bn which is a significant contribution to winter fuel bills. We will continue to pay £200 for households with somebody who has reached State Pension age and is under age 80; or £300 for households with somebody aged 80 and over. The Government has provided £500 million to help vulnerable households across the country with essentials this winter. The Household Support Fund will provide £421 million to help vulnerable people in England with the cost of food, utilities and wider essentials. The Barnett Formula will apply in the usual way, with the devolved administrations receiving almost £80 million (£41m for the Scottish Government, £25m for the Welsh Government and £14m for the NI Executive), for a total of £500 million. Local Authorities in England have discretion to design their own bespoke local schemes, within the overall parameters of the Household Support Fund, with help primarily focused on food and utility bills. Up to 50% of the fund is available for councils to use on households without children. Local Authorities will use their resources to identify vulnerable households who are in most need in their area and can apply their own discretion to eligibility and the size of the award. This funding covers the period 06 October 2021 to 31 March 2022 inclusive. The Cold Weather Payment scheme helps vulnerable people in receipt of certain income-related benefits to meet the additional costs of heating for every week of severe cold weather, between 01 November and 31 March each year. A payment of £25 is made when the average temperature has been recorded as, or is forecast to be, 0 degrees C or below over seven consecutive days at the weather station linked to an eligible person’s postcode. It is paid automatically within 14 working days of a trigger to ensure claimants receive payments at the time of need. Between 01 November 2020 and 31 March 2021 the Government made £98.8 million in payments to those in need.

Kickstart Scheme: Rutherglen and Hamilton West

Margaret Ferrier: What estimate she has made of the number of jobs created by the Kickstart scheme in Rutherglen and Hamilton West constituency.

Mims Davies: I refer the honourable member to the answer given for PQ 58900.

Pensioners: British Nationals Abroad

Peter Dowd: What steps she is taking to support British pensioners overseas during winter 2021-22.

Guy Opperman: As with previous winters, the Government is supporting overseas pensioners during winter 2021-22. The UK State Pension is payable worldwide. Additionally, Winter Fuel Payments are payable to those in eligible EEA countries, and Switzerland, providing they have a genuine and sufficient link with the UK and meet the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

South West Water: Rebates

Sir Geoffrey Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to extend the rebate for South West Water customers for a further year, in the context of pricing structures for 2022-23 being determined by water companies early in 2022.

Rebecca Pow: The Government has provided the customer subsidy since 2013 in recognition that water bills in the region can be a source of financial pressure. South West Water's business plan for this price review period sets out efficiency savings, which have already seen household bills in the region decrease. We are currently liaising with South West Water on the future funding requirement for the rebate.

Animal Welfare

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a mandatory duty for local authorities to employ an Animal Welfare Officer.

Jo Churchill: Local authorities are responsible for enforcing certain animal-related activities which are licensed, such as pet selling, dog breeding and selling, animal boarding, riding schools and the exhibiting of animals. Therefore, every local authority at district level will have access to officers who enforce animal welfare standards. Local authorities have powers, under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, to investigate allegations of animal cruelty or poor welfare. Local authorities must be allowed to decide how to enforce the 2006 Act based upon local priorities and resources.

Air Pollution

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will publish the latest estimate of the tonnage of UK primary emissions of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in 2019 from (a) wood burning in closed stoves in domestic premises, (b) wood burning in open fires in domestic premises, (c) coal burning in domestic premises, (d) bonfires, (e) fire pits, (f) incinerators, (g) wildfires, (h) pizza ovens, (i) commercial waste burning, and (j) other forms of combustion.

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will publish the latest estimate of the proportion of UK primary emissions of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in 2019 from each of the following sources in domestic premises: (a) burning wood in open fires; (b) burning coal in open fires; (c) burning wood in closed stoves; and (d) burning coal in closed stoves.

Jo Churchill: Emissions of key air pollutants are compiled and reported by Defra on an annual basis through the National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory (NAEI). The data for 2019 is publicly available and was reported on 15 February 2021, via: https://naei.beis.gov.uk/data/ Emissions specifically from bonfires, fire pits and pizza ovens are not estimated in the inventory.

Air Pollution

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will publish the latest estimate of the total tonnage of UK primary emissions of fine particulate matter, PM2.5, in 2020.

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will publish his Department's latest estimate of the total tonnage of UK primary emissions of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in 2019.

Jo Churchill: Emissions of key air pollutants, including PM 2.5, are compiled and reported by Defra on an annual basis through the National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory (NAEI), which can be found here: https://naei.beis.gov.uk/data/The next update to the inventory, including emissions estimates for 2020 and updates to the historic time series, will be published in February 2022.

Flood Control

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to tackle surface water flooding.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that surface water flooding infrastructure is resilient to extreme weather events.

Rebecca Pow: Our long-term Flood and coastal erosion risk management Policy Statement, published last year, outlines our policies and supporting actions to create a nation more resilient to future flood and coastal erosion risk. It will accelerate progress to protect better and prepare better the country against flooding and coastal erosion in the face of more frequent extreme weather as a result of climate change. This includes surface water flooding, the most widespread form of flooding in England.Earlier this year we restated our commitment to tackle surface water flood risk and published an update report on surface water management, which includes progress to date with our Surface Water Management Action Plan and our response to the independent review into surface water and drainage responsibilities.We have also taken steps to change the partnership funding rules to enable more surface water schemes in our new £5.2 billion flood defence programme. Approximately 34% of the projects in the new investment programme will help better protect properties from surface water flooding, with many being delivered by flood risk management authorities across the country.At the Autumn Budget 2021 we announced a new National Infrastructure Commission study, to report by November 2022, on the effective management of surface water flooding in England. This will assess the current approaches to managing surface water and consider the role of a range of interventions including both traditional built infrastructure and nature-based solutions.Under the Flood and Water Management Act 2010, lead local flood authorities (unitary authorities and county councils) have responsibility for local flood risk management. This means ensuring risks of flooding from surface water, groundwater and ordinary watercourses are identified and managed as part of a local flood risk management strategy.

Nitrogen: Pollution Control

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken to tackle nitrogen pollution.

Rebecca Pow: The Government has made ambitious commitments to improve the environment, including air and water quality. Addressing nitrogen pollution remains a priority for delivering these commitments and we are taking steps to achieve this.We are taking action to address pollution from agriculture by utilising a suite of effective advice programmes, incentives, and regulations. Recent actions include but are not limited to a near doubling of funding for the Catchment Sensitive Farming Programme; providing financial support for positive action from farmers, such as through the Countryside Stewardship scheme and the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund; and promoting compliance with regulation by allocating £1.2 million to the Environment Agency to recruit an additional 50 inspectors. We continue to review and consider options to deliver our commitments in this area.In addition, we are helping to tackle local nitrogen dioxide exceedances for air quality by providing £880 million to help local authorities develop and implement local air quality plans.

Sewers

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made if the adequacy of the (a) capacity and (b) viability of England's sewage system.

Rebecca Pow: The Government has worked with the water industry, Ofwat and the Environment Agency to put in place the Drainage and Wastewater Management Plan process which has been made statutory by the Environment Act 2021. Water and sewerage companies will be publishing draft plans in 2022 which the Government will assess. Plans will assess the capacity and resilience of sewerage systems in England and set out a strategy to ensure that they meet current and future requirements.

Home Office

Undocumented Migrants: Hotels

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason the total budget allocated to housing illegal migrants in hotels is commercial in confidence when that total would not reveal the contract terms of individual suppliers.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Asylum: Identity Cards

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average waiting time was for an Asylum Registration Card application to be processed by UKVI in (a) 2019, (b) 2020 and (c) 2021.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Asylum: Identity Cards

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what support is available through her Department to asylum seekers who (a) have never been issued an Asylum Registration Card and (b) have seen their Asylum Registration Card expire.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Poverty

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to prevent poverty among those with No Recourse to Public Funds.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Immigration Officers: Civil Proceedings

Jacob Young: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to protect Border Force and Immigration Enforcement officers from being targeted with legal action by political activists during the performance of their duties.

Damian Hinds: Border Force and Immigration Enforcement Officers exercise statutory powers when performing their duties, including the power to use reasonable force if necessary.The Home Office will always defend robustly any legal action brought against them by activists or anyone else, if it relates to the proper discharge of immigration officers’ duties for which they have lawful authority.

National Security

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to publish legislative proposals on countering state threats.

Damian Hinds: As announced in the Queen’s Speech of May 2021, the Home Office will be introducing new legislation to provide the security services and law enforcement agencies with the tools they need to tackle the evolving threat of hostile activity by foreign states.This legislation will modernise existing offences, to deal more effectively with the espionage threat, and create new offences, to criminalise other harmful activity conducted by, and on behalf of states.A bill will be introduced as soon as parliamentary time allows.

Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence

Owen Thompson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the Government will ratify the Istanbul Convention.

Damian Hinds: The UK signed the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention) in 2012, signalling our strong commitment to tackling violence against women and girls. This Government remains committed to ratifying the Convention as soon as possible and this commitment was reiterated in the new Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy, published in July.The Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence (Ratification of Convention) Act 2017 requires Ministers to publish annual reports on their progress towards being able to ratify the Convention. The fifth such report was published on 1 November and can be found here: Istanbul Convention implementation: progress report 2021 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). Once the Government is satisfied that the UK is compliant with the Convention then Ministers will, in line with section 1(3) of the 2017 Act, make a statement to Parliament confirming this and setting out the timetable for ratification.

Door Supervisors and Security Guards: Protective Clothing

Nadia Whittome: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department is taking steps to ensure that security officers and door staff have the right to wear protective clothing including stab vests.

Damian Hinds: The Security Industry Authority (SIA) protect the public through the regulation of the private security industry, which includes working with partners to raise standards across the industry as a whole.However, it is for employers and venues to conduct risk assessments to ensure that staff and personnel working for them are provided with the appropriate equipment to fulfil their role safely and securely. Any assessment and mitigation of risk should include the need for appropriate personal protection equipment.The SIA signposts to advice produced by the Health and Safety Executive on conducting risk assessments. Particularly in light of Covid, the Government has also published a number of additional guides for those working in a variety of environments. Stipulation of particular Personal Protection Equipment will be assignment-specific, and the responsibility of the employer or venue to be satisfied on.

Security Industry Authority: Licensing

Nadia Whittome: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of implementing a fee waiver for Security Industry Authority licences for security officers on a low income.

Damian Hinds: The Security Industry Authority’s licence application fee is fixed in accordance with Schedule 1, section 15(1) of the Private Security Industry Act 2001, which states that the SIA should set its application fees at a level suitable to enable full recovery of costs incurred in delivering its activities, without seeking to make profits.Any variation to waive or vary fees for one cohort would essentially require the SIA to recoup these costs from other applicants or would result in a loss that the taxpayer would subsidise. Some employers and security businesses operate schemes to either pay for the licence fee and/or support their employees to spread repayment of the costs over a longer period of time.

Domestic Violence: Pets

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that those who harm pets in the context of domestic abuse are prosecuted accordingly.

Damian Hinds: The Domestic Abuse Act provides for the first legal definition of domestic abuse which can encompass a wide range of behaviours that can affect many aspects of a victim’s life and relationships, including those with pets.The Act also amended the definition of ‘personally connected’ which removed the ‘living together’ requirement for the controlling or coercive behaviour offence. This means, as of Spring 2022, the offence will now apply to intimate partners, ex-partners or family members, regardless of whether the victim and perpetrator live together.The draft Domestic Abuse Statutory Guidance published for consultation, and the upcoming Controlling or Coercive Behaviour Guidance, both recognise domestic abuse can involve violence or threats against pets, including to control, coerce or cause distress to victims. The guidance seek to support agencies in identifying and responding to domestic abuse and reducing risk to victims.Finalised Domestic Abuse Guidance will be issued after all of the relevant updates have been made. The Controlling or Coercive Behaviour Guidance will be published for consultation shortly.

Home Office: Global Butterflies

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what funds have been paid by her Department to Global Butterflies in each of the last five years; and to what projects those funds were allocated.

Damian Hinds: The Home Office have no records of any such payments or grants.

Home Office: Litigation Group

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what services the Government Legal Department’s Litigation Group has provided to her Department since 1 January 2021.

Damian Hinds: Since 1 January 2021, Litigation Group has continued to provide litigation services to the majority of government departments, including the Home Office, and executive agencies, as well as many non-departmental public bodies.The Group’s work encompasses litigation in public and private law as well as supporting public inquiries and acting in Inquests. This has involved, amongst other things, attending in a wide range of courts, including Coroners’ Courts, the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal, the Royal Courts of Justice and the Supreme Court. Our Employment and Commercial Groups similarly provide litigation services to the majority of government departments and have done so in the period in question.

Internet: Sexual Harassment

Chris Elmore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of cyberflashing images that were reported to law enforcement in England and Wales in the last five years.

Damian Hinds: Official estimates on the number of cyberflashing images that were reported to law enforcement in England and Wales have not been made. However, a YouGov survey in 2017 estimated that around four in ten (41%) of young women (aged 18 to 36 years) had experience of having been sent an unsolicited obscene images of men.This level of prevalence is why the Government is considering making unsolicited sending of obscene images, for example via wi-fi or Bluetooth, a specific criminal offence.

International Corruption Unit: Staff

Kevin Hollinrake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many staff were in the National Crime Agency's International Corruption Unit in each of the last five years.

Damian Hinds: The National Crime Agency collects the above information. However, it is not judged appropriate to publicly provide this information on operational and national security grounds.

Prevent Review

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she will publish the independent review of Prevent.

Damian Hinds: The Independent Review of Prevent is currently ongoing. The Independent Reviewer of Prevent will complete and present his report to the Home Secretary.The Government will consider its findings and recommendations carefully once it is completed and will publish the review and the Government response in due course.

Animal Experiments

Margaret Ferrier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 1 December 2021 to Question 80330 on Animal Experiments: Scotland, what plans her Department has to (a) increase transparency of statistical data in future publications and (b) publish specific data for (i) England, (ii) Scotland and (iii) Wales in future publications of the Annual Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals.

Damian Hinds: Statistics on regulated scientific procedures performed using living animals under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA) are published annually. The next publication, covering data for 2021, is provisionally scheduled for release in July 2022. The UK Statistics Authority has designated these statistics as National Statistics, signifying compliance with the Code of Practice for Statistics.We are committed to regularly reviewing our National Statistics outputs to ensure they are relevant to users and to identify ongoing opportunities for innovation and improvement.

Animal Experiments

Margaret Ferrier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 1 December 2021 to Question 80331 on Animal Experiments, what plans her Department has to (a) record future deaths of animals at licensed testing facilities and (b) ensure that unnecessary animal deaths at licensed testing facilities are investigated.

Damian Hinds: The Home Office does not hold information on, nor has plans to record future deaths of animals that occur at licensed scientific testing facilities.Licences issued under the authority of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 require notification to the Home Office if the severity limits and/or controls described in the licence appear to have been, or are likely to be breached. This includes the unexpected deaths of animals. Notifications are reviewed by the Regulator and cases are further investigated where required to evaluate compliance with licence authorities.

Cybercrime

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on trends in the (a) number of and (b) number of victims of online scams; and what steps her Department is taking to help protect (i) people and (ii) businesses from cyber crime.

Damian Hinds: As noted in the response to PQ:130746, the Government remains deeply concerned by the growth in scale and complexity of online scams, especially during COVID-19. That is why, we are actively working with industry, regulators, law enforcement and consumer groups to crack down on these crimes and to protect victims.As of March 2020, 53% of fraud incidents estimated by the Crime Survey of England and Wales were thought to be cyber-related. The most recently available quarterly data for the year ending June 2021 of the number of reports of fraud made to Action Fraud that have been recorded as criminal offences by the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) have been published by the Office for National Statistics and can currently be found in Table A5 here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/crimeinenglandandwalesappendixtables.Tackling cyber crime is a complex problem and, as we made clear in the Beating Crime Plan published earlier this year, we are working across government to deliver improvements to the UK’s cyber resilience and ensure we stay ahead of cyber criminals. We have invested £195 million over the last five years to establish a specialist cyber law enforcement network to disrupt and prosecute cyber criminals and support victims in response and recovery.To protect people and businesses from cyber crime we have launched the Cyber Resilience Centres to assist small businesses; the National Economic Crime Victim Care Unit (NECVCU) scheme to ensure that the right support is provided to victims by the right organisation, dependent on their individual need; and the NCSC’s Active Cyber Defence programme to help tackle a significant proportion of the cyber attacks that hit the UK.The Government will also publish a new National Cyber Security Strategy later this year.

Members: Correspondence

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to correspondence from her Department to the hon. Member for Lichfield's office dated 7 December 2021 on a constituent's communication on immigration, which stated that her Department's Private Office Direct Communications Unit would not reply due to their judgment that the constituent’s email was of a racist and offensive nature, what her policy is on whether (a) Ministers are shown all correspondence from Members and (b) officials can make the decision not to respond to a constituent's communication passed on by a Member.

Tom Pursglove: When the Department receives correspondence, it is triaged by officials to assess the appropriate response, which includes consideration of whether a letter may not be suitable for a reply due to racist or offensive content.Any correspondence received directly from a Member is shared with the relevant Minister’s office. Where constituency correspondence is provided directly from Member’s offices, rather than from Members themselves, the Minister’s office is not routinely shown the correspondence if it has been assessed to fall into the racist or offensive content category.In this case there was an error in the process for assessing whether the correspondence was racist or offensive and a substantive reply should have been sent. The correspondence will now be replied to by me as the Minister for Justice and Tackling Illegal Migration as a matter of priority

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Buildings: Insulation

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether the Government is providing funding for leaseholders living in buildings that do not have combustible cladding but do have other fire safety defects, such as combustible insulation.

Christopher Pincher: Longstanding independent safety advice has been clear that unsafe cladding poses the greatest risk to buildings because it can act as a fuel to a fire. Our approach prioritises action on the risks of unsafe cladding – the costs for remediating this are high, and the risks posed by it are also high. Building owners and industry should make buildings safe without passing on costs to leaseholders and we are introducing new measures that will legally require building owners to prove they have tried all routes to cover costs. The Government remains committed to protecting leaseholders from unaffordable costs. We are looking closely at this issue to make sure everything is being done to support leaseholders. The Building Safety Bill will bring about a fundamental change in both the regulatory framework for building safety and construction industry culture, creating a more accountable system.

Buildings: Insulation

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether an EWS1 form is required for a building below 18 metres.

Christopher Pincher: An independent expert statement in July this year was clear that there is no systemic risk of fire in residential buildings under 18 metres and that EWS1s should not be required by lenders on buildings under 18 metres. The Government strongly supports this position and made this clear in its written statement of 21 July.

Buildings: Insulation

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent progress his Department has made on its re-evaluation of the loan scheme for building under 18 metres.

Christopher Pincher: We are looking closely at this issue to make sure everything is being done to support leaseholders. This will be informed by new data from further survey work to understand the prevalence of unsafe cladding in medium rise buildings of 11-18 metres. The Government remains committed to protecting leaseholders from unaffordable costs. Further detail on the support offer for leaseholders in residential buildings of 11-18 metres will be released when all options have been fully considered.

Buildings: Safety

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of (a) the cost to the public purse of the proposed Building Safety Managers and (b) whether that costs constitutes value for money.

Christopher Pincher: The Building Safety Manager will be an individual or organisation who is appointed by, and enters into contract with, the Principal Accountable Person. It is not expected for the costs to fall on the public purse.In line with recommendations set out by Dame Judith Hackitt, their role is to support Accountable Persons in the management of fire and structural safety in occupied high-rise residential buildings that are in scope of the new regime. A competent Building Safety Manager must be appointed for all occupied buildings, with the exception of where the Principal Accountable Person has notified the Building Safety Regulator that they have the requisite competence and capability and will fulfil the role themselves.The Government is committed to ensuring safe outcomes for residents of high-rise buildings; Building Safety Managers will provide expertise and assistance to help ensure residents feel safe in their homes.

Buildings: Safety

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the proposed role of Building Safety Manager.

Christopher Pincher: The Building Safety Manager, who can be an organisation or individual, will play a key role in assisting and helping to ensuring that Accountable Persons meet their obligations. Building Safety Managers must be competent to support in the day-to-day management of fire and structural safety in the building.To ensure a robust and consistent approach to assuring competence, we are sponsoring the British Standards Institution to create a suite of national competence standards for higher risk buildings. This will include the competence framework for the Building Safety Manager and other key roles.

Temporary Accommodation: Domestic Abuse

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what discussions he has had with representatives of local authorities to help ensure that pets are not a barrier to domestic abuse survivors accessing temporary accommodation.

Eddie Hughes: It is absolutely critical that victims of domestic abuse get support and especially when they are in housing need. That is why we legislated through the Domestic Abuse Act to give people who are homeless as a result of being a victim of domestic abuse priority need for accommodation. Housing authorities should be sensitive to the importance of pets to applicants, particularly rough sleepers and domestic abuse survivors who may rely on pets for companionship. Although it will not always be possible to make provision for pets in temporary accommodation, housing authorities should give careful consideration to this aspect when making provision for applicants who wish to retain their pet.

Housing: Domestic Abuse

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps the Government is taking to help ensure that people fleeing domestic abuse with a pet are given the support they need to find suitable and safe accommodation.

Eddie Hughes: Victims of domestic abuse with pets can face additional barriers to leaving an abusive relationship. Under the new statutory duties in the Domestic Abuse Act which came into force on 1 October 2021, local authorities must provide support for all victims of domestic abuse within safe accommodation when they need it. This includes victims who have a pet.Associated regulations provide clear definitions of safe accommodation under the duty. This includes dispersed, self-contained accommodation, and sanctuary schemes in which the victim’s own home is made safe. Local authorities can refer to the regulations to help them provide support in safe accommodation suitable for victims with pets fleeing domestic abuse.

Voting Rights: Visual Impairment

Kirsten Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to enable blind and partially sighted people to exercise their right to vote independently.

Kemi Badenoch: It is integral to our democracy that everybody is able to make their voice heard and that elections are accessible for all those eligible to vote.The Government works closely with charities representing individuals with disabilities such as those who are blind or partially-sighted, including the RNIB. We will continue to work with these organisations to help ensure effective communication and collaboration so that disabled electors get the right support. We have also worked with the RNIB to test potential ways to improve the voting process for blind and partially sighted people.In addition, the Elections Bill will, for the first time in electoral law, put in place a requirement for Returning Officers to consider the needs of all disabled voters when providing equipment for polling stations. Returning Officers are best placed to respond to the needs of their local communities, and being able to respond to individual needs will help ensure that people are effectively supported to vote. Our new proposals will be supported by guidance from the Electoral Commission, and will involve a wide range of engagement with relevant stakeholders.

Elections: Candidates

Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what guidance is in place for (a) election returning officers and (b) local authorities on limiting the period when the address details for candidates in elections remain in the public domain.

Kemi Badenoch: The Electoral Commission issues guidance to Returning Officers on the retention of election documents and publication of election notices on their websites, including those giving details about candidates standing at an election. The Electoral Commission guidance advises Returning Officers that they should either remove such notices published on their website, or remove the personal data contained in these notices, once the deadline for an election petition for that election has passed. Candidates have the option to require that their home address is not disclosed publicly at elections.

Cabinet Office

Veterans: Sleeping Rough

John Healey: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the number of former service personnel sleeping rough each year since 2010.

Leo Docherty: Current evidence does not show that veterans are more likely to become homeless or sleep rough than the general population. Less than 1% (0.9%) of households sleeping rough and seeking government support in England in 2020/21 have at least one household member who has served in the Armed Forces. The government has put support in place to help veterans to access housing. The government has produced new guidance for Local Authorities to ensure veterans are not disadvantaged by their service when applying for social housing, as well as removing the local connection test to assist the transition into civilian accommodation.

10 Downing Street: Official Hospitality

Owen Thompson: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish full details of hospitality expenses in Number 10 Downing Street for each day of December 2020.

Michael Ellis: Cabinet Office transparency spending data by month can be found on GOV.UK.

10 Downing Street

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Prime Minister attended an indoor gathering at No.10 Downing Street on 27 November 2020.

Angela Rayner: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what social events for staff the Prime Minister attended during (a) November and (b) December 2020.

Christian Matheson: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Prime Minister attended the Downing Street staff social event on 18 December 2020.

Christian Matheson: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish a list of attendees of the Downing Street social event on 18 December 2020.

Christian Matheson: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many external guests attended the Downing Street social event on 18 December 2020.

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Answer to the Question from the hon. Member for Hornsey and Wood Green at Prime Minister's Questions on 8 December 2021, if he will instruct the Cabinet Secretary to undertake an inquiry into allegations of an additional party held on 13 November 2020.

Michael Ellis: I refer the Hon Member to the answers given by my Rt Hon Friend the Prime Minister at Prime Minister's Questions on 8 December and those given by me in the House on 9 December. Copies of the terms of reference for the Cabinet Secretary’s investigations have been placed in the Libraries of the House and are also available on the GOV.UK website.

Northern Ireland Protocol: Customs and Supply Chains

Colum Eastwood: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what progress the Government has made on negotiations with the EU on the Northern Ireland Protocol; and what effect concerns raised by the US administration have on the Government's negotiating position with regards to the EU's proposals to reduce custom checks and supply chain issues in Northern Ireland.

Michael Ellis: Lord Frost last spoke to European Commission Vice President Maroš Šefčovič on Friday 10 December. They covered the full range of outstanding issues and Lord Frost welcomed the Commission's professed readiness to make progress on them. Nevertheless, whilst there has been some potential convergence on medicines, no agreement has been reached. The gap between our positions is still significant and progress on important issues remains limited. We and the US have made clear the paramount need to protect the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement in all its dimensions. The UK has been consistently clear that significant changes are needed to the Protocol in order to protect the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement and Northern Ireland’s place in the UK internal market. Negotiations with the EU commission are focused solely on resolving these issues.

Cabinet Office: Global Butterflies

Tim Loughton: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what funds have been paid by his Department to Global Butterflies in each of the last five years; and to what projects those funds were allocated.

Michael Ellis: The Cabinet Office has not engaged with Global Butterflies and has not funded any of their projects.

Treasury

Cash Dispensing: Pilot Schemes

Justin Madders: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his planned timetable is for assessing the success of the Community Access to Cash Pilots.

John Glen: The Community Access to Cash Pilots was an industry-led initiative that took place in eight locations across the UK between December 2020 to October 2021. These pilots were conducted to trial and test sustainable solutions for ensuring that communities can conveniently withdraw and deposit cash and identify ways basic banking services can be better delivered. The Bank Hub pilots in Cambuslang and Rochford will continue until April 2023 and, following changes to the law and a successful pilot, industry plans to roll out cashback without a purchase to 2,000 shops by end of the year. The Government welcomes industry efforts to develop solutions to support continued access to cash into the future and looks forward to the findings of these pilots. The Community Access to Cash Pilots Board aims to publish its full findings by the end of the year. Alongside industry initiatives, the Government remains committed to legislating to protect access to cash for those who need it. The Government has recently undertaken an Access to Cash Consultation on further legislative proposals for ensuring the UK's cash system is sustainable for the long term. This included proposals for new laws to make sure people only need to travel reasonable distances to pay in or take out cash. The consultation closed on 23 of September, and the Government will set out next steps in due course.

Banks: Gambling

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to ensure that all banks provide a gambling block to help prevent gambling harm.

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will require gambling firms to disclose their bank account details on a central registry to empower banks to extend gambling blocks to bank transfers made to gambling companies.

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with the financial services sector to help prevent harmful gambling.

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will review the Payment Services Directive to ensure that it helps prevent gambling harm.

John Glen: The Government recognises the important role banks and other financial services can play in supporting efforts to tackle gambling related harm. On gambling blocks, I am pleased that many banks have acted to offer their customers the option to block debit card transactions to licensed gambling operators, which is estimated to now be available for approximately 90% of UK current accounts. The Government welcomes this progress and continues to work together with industry to identify what more can be done in this area. As such, I will shortly co-convene a roundtable with the Minister for Technology and the Digital Economy to look at opportunities for additional progress which further support UK consumers. The Government is reviewing the Gambling Act 2005 to make sure it is fit for the digital age. This is taking a close look at the effectiveness of existing protections for gamblers in preventing harm and how these could be improved. The Department for Digital, Culture Media and Sport is considering the evidence carefully and aim to publish a white paper outlining any conclusions and proposals for reform in due course.

Electronic Funds Transfer

Mr David Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) Treasury officials and (b) other individuals are engaged in work on the replacement for the Real Time Gross Settlement System.

Mr David Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much the project work on the replacement for the Real Time Gross Settlement System has cost as of 8 December 2021.

Mr David Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the timetable for completion of the project for the replacement of the Real Time Gross Settlement system.

John Glen: The Real-Time Gross Settlement (“RTGS”) service is the infrastructure that holds accounts for banks, building societies and other institutions at the Bank of England (“the Bank”). The balances in these accounts can be used to move money in real time between these account holders, delivering final and risk-free settlement. A programme of work (“the Programme”) has been established by the Bank to deliver a renewed RTGS service. The Programme consists of around 200 Bank employees, who work on a range of activities, including the technical build of the new system, supporting industry readiness and designing the Bank’s target operating model once the service goes live. This figure also includes all programme overheads, such as colleagues forming a Programme Management Office. Given the Programme is a major financial infrastructure programme, industry participants are also involved in preparing their organisations and relevant systems for the renewed RTGS service. No Treasury officials work directly on the Programme, though the Bank updates the Treasury on the status of the Programme as a key stakeholder. Given the Programme is only part way through its timeline, it would not be meaningful to provide a specific cost figure for the Programme as of 8 December 2021. The costs of the Programme will be fully recovered from participants via the RTGS tariff, which the Bank is currently reviewing to ensure it will be fit for purpose once the renewed service goes live. Industry will be consulted on the Bank’s proposed approach in Spring 2022, and an accompanying consultation document will include indicative total costs for the Programme. The indicative timeline for the Programme is publicly available on the Bank’s website. For reference, this can be found at the following location: https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/payment-and-settlement/rtgs-renewal-programme This indicative timeline is the result of close industry engagement. As would be expected of any major technology programme, the Bank of England continually assess readiness for this timeline and make contingency plans to ensure the stability and resilience of the RTGS service.

Equitable Life Assurance Society: Compensation

Nadia Whittome: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that compensation is provided to Equitable Life Assurance Society policy holders.

John Glen: I refer the Honourable Member for Nottingham East to the answer I gave on the 19 April 2021. UIN: 179543

Financial Services Compensation Scheme

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will hold discussions with the Financial Conduct Authority on increasing the frequency of reviews of the £85,000 limit in compensation for savers and investors in the event of the demise of financial institutions.

John Glen: Under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (as amended), the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) have statutory responsibility for making rules on how the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) should provide compensation when authorised financial services firms are unable to meet claims against them. This responsibility includes setting the limits for compensation payments made by the FSCS. The FCA carries out reviews of FSCS compensation limits independently of government. The FCA published a discussion paper on 6 December 2021, which invites views on key elements of the FCA’s compensation framework and remains open for responses until 4 March 2022. The paper includes discussion of the FSCS compensation limits which are set by the FCA. The FCA discussion paper can be found at: https://www.fca.org.uk/publication/discussion/dp21-5.pdf

Employment: Poverty

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the impact of the end of support under the Coronavirus Job retention Scheme on levels of in-work poverty.

Mr Simon Clarke: The Government continues to monitor and publish trends in poverty across the UK. The Household Below Average Income (HBAI) publication looks at household incomes and poverty levels in the UK, but the latest available figures only cover up to the financial year 2019/20 and so do not capture the time period in which the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme has ended. These can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/households-below-average-income-for-financial-years-ending-1995-to-2020 However, we have taken recent steps to ensure work pays. We are doing this by reducing the Universal Credit taper rate from 63% to 55%, and increasing Universal Credit work allowances by £500 p.a. This is essentially a tax cut for the lowest paid in society worth around £2.2 bn in 2022-23. This change also means that 1.9m households will on average keep around an extra £1,000 on an annual basis. We are also increasing the National Living Wage to £9.50 per hour from April 2022 for workers aged 23+, which is expected to benefit more than 2 million workers.

Solar Power: VAT

Richard Fuller: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of reducing the rate of VAT payable on solar panels and battery storage installation.

Lucy Frazer: The Government maintains a reduced rate of VAT of 5 per cent on the installation of many Energy Saving Materials, including solar panels, subject to certain conditions. Battery storage installation may qualify for the reduced rate of VAT when supplied as part of an installation of qualifying goods. Extending the current relief would impose additional pressure on the public finances, to which VAT makes a significant contribution. VAT raised around £130 billion in the year 2019-20, and helps to fund key spending priorities, including on health, education, and defence.

Tax Avoidance

Dean Russell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many promoters and operators of the Loan Charge 2019 have been prosecuted for promoting and operating those schemes.

Lucy Frazer: I refer the Hon Member to the answer that was given to PQ UIN 62867.

Tax Avoidance

Dean Russell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what comparative assessment he has made of the equity of HMRC pursuing employees and not employers on the use of the Loan Charge 2019.

Lucy Frazer: The Loan Charge, a new charge on disguised remuneration loan balances outstanding on 5 April 2019, was announced at Budget 2016. This initially gave individuals three years from the announcement of the Loan Charge to either repay their loans or agree a settlement with HMRC.HMRC will go to the employer to settle the tax due or collect the Loan Charge in the first instance. Approximately 80 per cent of the £3.3 billion HMRC has brought into charge through disguised remuneration settlements between Budget 2016 and the end of March 2021 has been from employers. However, HMRC will consider other options to collect the tax where collection from the employer is not possible, such as when the employer no longer exists or are based offshore.  Liability for the tax is always that of the individual. The Government has provided a range of powers allowing HMRC, in certain circumstances, to collect the amount due from the employee.Following Lord Morse’s Independent Loan Charge Review, the Government has taken further steps to mitigate the impact of the Loan Charge to ensure that the right support is in place for those who need it.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Gambling: Regulation

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will facilitate discussions between the gambling industry and financial services institutions to ensure gambling operators provide data to prevent harm.

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions she has had with the financial services sector to help prevent harmful gambling.

Chris Philp: The Government recognises the important role banks and other financial services can play in supporting efforts to tackle gambling related harm. Since 2019, when the then Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Jeremy Wright, convened a roundtable of banks and other stakeholders in the financial sector to encourage them to do more in this regard many banks have acted to offer their customers the option to block card transactions and we estimate this is now available for approximately 90% of UK current accounts.The Economic Secretary to the Treasury and I will shortly co-convene a roundtable with the financial services industry to explore further steps the sector could take.

Gambling: Payment Methods

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will take steps in the forthcoming gambling White Paper to end online gambling via payment mechanisms other than direct debit such as Klarna and alternative payment systems.

Chris Philp: The Government is reviewing the Gambling Act 2005 to make sure it is fit for the digital age. Our call for evidence included questions on new and emerging technologies, delivery and payment methods. We are considering the evidence carefully and will publish a white paper in the coming months.

Gambling: Regulation

Andrew Lewer: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make it her policy to undertake regular reviews of the gambling sector to ensure that policy, regulation, stakes and prizes are kept up to date.

Andrew Lewer: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she will take in the forthcoming gambling White Paper to support the land-based amusements sector.

Andrew Lewer: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of supporting new types of amusement machine through the Gambling Act review to enable that industry to innovate and add to its low-stake, low prize offer.

Chris Philp: As part of its broad scope, our Gambling Act Review call for evidence included questions on the rules governing land based gambling and the need to ensure an equitable approach to the regulation of the online and the land based industries.We are carefully considering all the evidence submitted and a white paper setting out our next steps and proposals for reform will be published in due course.

Broadband: Infrastructure

Chris Elmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will publish a timeframe for the implementation of the £5.5 billion investment in broadband infrastructure services announced in 2020.

Julia Lopez: The Government has committed £5 billion to support the delivery of Project Gigabit. Our objectives are for gigabit-capable broadband to be available to at least 85% of premises by 2025 and for coverage to reach almost all premises as soon as possible thereafter. We are on track to meet these objectives and gigabit coverage is now at 63%, up from 9% in 2019. We will continue to publish regular updates on the Project Gigabit delivery plan.

Internet

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Government has plans to create a domestic sovereign cloud capability similar to the European Gaia-X project.

Julia Lopez: On Wednesday 24 November 2021, DCMS published the National Data Strategy Mission 1 Policy Framework: Unlocking the value of data across the economy, which provides a framework for government action to set the right conditions to make private and third sector data more usable, accessible and available. The Framework identifies seven priority areas for action, three of which contribute to the goal of supporting the development of data sharing infrastructure within the UK.The recently formed Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO) in the Cabinet Office is working on standardising the approach that government organisations take to the use of cloud services and data hosting and continues to regularly review strategies taken by other countries to assess their relevance for the UK government. CDDO is working closely with other parts of Cabinet Office and government departments through the One Government Cloud Strategy forum to ensure it takes a multi-functional view on all decisions.

National Leisure Recovery Fund

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of including leisure facilities run in-house by local authorities in the National Leisure Recovery Fund.

Nigel Huddleston: The National Leisure Recovery Fund sought to support eligible public sector leisure centres to reopen to the public, to give the sport and physical activity sector the best chance of recovery to a position of sustainable operation over the medium term.A total of £100 million was available as a biddable fund to eligible local authorities in England, which was allocated in a single funding round covering the period 1 December 2020 to 31 March 2021. Eligible local authorities included those in England who hold responsibility for the provision of leisure services, those who have outsourced their leisure provision to an external body and those whose outsourced leisure arrangements have ended since 20 March 2020 and services are now delivered as an in-house function.Facilities run in-house were supported through the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s (MHCLG) Income Compensation Scheme. The MHCLG’s scheme was designed to compensate for transactional income losses that are truly irrecoverable – including transactional income from customer and client receipts generated from the delivery of goods and services and which were budgeted for in 2020/21, this includes budgeted management fee income.